by Chris Denham

What has been the least effective strike in recent history?

Well, last Thursday Eurostar drivers in the UK announced they would be walking out over the weekend.

By the time the weekend was over, those drivers were forgotten as a paralysed Kent discovered how much it relied on transport to keep itself going and questions were asked at the highest levels as to how Eurostars managed to be cancelled for the best part of three days.

~ Analysis: Eurostar faces battle to rebuild reputation >>>

Bluewater shopping centre was not alone in seeing a catastrophic drop in revenue, although it soon bounced back, and the county-wide inquest into what went wrong is likely to go on for some time.

Thursday saw the first flakes of a blizzard that blanketed north and west Kent, although east Kent was left largely alone.

On Friday, scores of roads at the west end of the county were shut, schools closed, and many people either couldn't get to work, or chose not to.

Snowmen and women were built on the M2 Medway Bridge as traffic ground to a halt.

Journalists found themselves writing about Eurostar snow shields and we learned that the ambient temperature in the Channel Tunnel is 25C even in winter.

Steam fans were overjoyed that one of the few trains to run to time through Kent was Tornado - a locomotive built to a design from 1948 - while many commuters discovered the joys of home-working.

Timeline: How the transport problems have unfolded

The sun is now shining on Kent, but there are many travellers who are still not sure if they will get home for Christmas in continental Europe and domestic trains are not yet back to normal.

Questions remain to be answered:

• Was the county's gritting and ploughing good enough?
• Why by Tuesday lunchtime did police still have to warn drivers of ice problems around Maidstone, when it was the fifth day of such cold weather?
• Every year since 1961 Kent's electric trains have had problems with ice on the power rail - why hasn't a solution been found?

On the other hand, it is rare in this corner of England that we have to deal with interruptions to the bubble of commuting and work on this scale - so maybe it wasn't such a bad thing to be reminded of our place in the scheme of things.

What are your memories of our snow days? Leave your comments below...