Heathrow bosses knew an inch of snow would cripple airport

Telegraph
"Our investigation can reveal that Heathrow:

* Regarded more than "two centimetres" (0.8 inches) of "continuous snow" as blizzard conditions and grounds to suspend flight operations indefinitely.

* Had only 10 snow sweepers and three airfield de-icers available to clear the runways despite publicly claiming it had 60 such vehicles.

* Previously notified the Government and the aviation authorities of its limited snow clearing capabilities.

* Ruled out the Civil Aviation Authority's offer to relax its rules on runway clearance which would have allowed planes to take off and land without clearing all the snow.

* Ordered in emergency supplies of runway de-icer because it had insufficient stocks to clear both runways.