For whom the jingle bells toll in Stoke-on-Trent

Day 2 in the igloo and after approximately four minutes sleep in the office last night, a proper severe weather warning alert has bounced onto my computer screen as I sit sadly at my desk in Stoke-on-Trent.

I fear the worse. The war spirit was invoked by the MD last night to ensure we didn't go home and so that no-one could offer the "we're stuck in snow" excuse (which roughly translated means we're not going to turn up to work, we're off into Hanley for some Christmas shopping).

Not even the "Red Cross" whisky could help the pain of sleeping under the desk disappear. Now the prospect of another night at Hotel Mayhem looms large.

The MD, who can holdly speak this morning after taking the lead in 44 renditions of Jingle Bells, the last one at 3am today, is huskily encouraging us to sleepover for just one more night.

There is already a history of Stoke-on-Trent shutting down if the snow fall goes over 1cm in 10 hours. Gridlock looms large and we can only hope that Michael Fish has issued the weather warning and got it wrong again...

The office junior's voice broke overnight and he has offered to do the baritone part of While Shepherds Wash Their Socks At Night...

Wearily, I've accepted my lot, and while I wait for another night in Stoke-on-Artic I look for some entertainment and turn to my favourite web site for local news, The Sentinel...