It's crazy to me that if there is even a light dusting of snow, the UK comes to a halt. Where as here, it's just life as usual. You just get on with it and go about your day.
Now, a sure sign that winter is coming is that the editorials in LRM brims with expectation; soon the white mayhem will cause Britain to shut down, and Land Rover owners will again be called upon to brave the elements and go where no ordinary vehicle can go, shopping for the elderly and so on, as they are confined to their homes by a couple of inches of white powder on the ground. (Yes, I exaggerate a little for effect.)
I usually read this after having used the tractor to remove the night's 10-12 inches of snowfall from the driveway, so that my kids can ride their bikes to school.
A few years ago, I sent LRM a photo of my great aunt, living outside Kirkenes just a tad south of 70 degrees north (and, incidentally, east of Istanbul, but I digress).
She - in her early nineties - made short work of the snow and ice in her old Toyota Corolla.
It's all about what you are used to; just about any vehicle is quite capable in the wintertime if the driver adjusts properly to the conditions.
LRM didn't print my photo, though.
In places with little to no snowfall, they simply don't have the infrastructure to deal with it, nor does the population have practice in driving and walking in the snow. That's the issue in the Southern US and the UK.
Where I lived in the states, it snowed every winter (almost?), but not usually so much at once. We had some infrastructure, but not enough to deal with very much snow at once - pretty much, things shut down if it got above the ankles. This was directly because there wasn't the infrastructure to deal with it.
And then, there is Norway, and the main roads are generally good enough. Folks use winter tires (all-season tires are just starting to get popular here: My neighbor doesn't trust them). Side roads generally aren't scraped down to the pavement, but rather get generally cleared and grit laid down for texture. I've seen videos of folks huddled behind a snowplow with Very deep snow: Where I lived in the US simply couldn't have done such a thing. Plus, the population is used to the amounts of snow they get, which means they aren't so concerned.
Infrastructure plus comfort levels go far.
Whatever the most extreme weather is in a location it tends to grind everything to a halt and generates a lot of exaggeration about how bad things are.
-40 is fun, especially throwing boiling water into the air and how it doesn't hit the ground.
It was almost easier to deal with because there aren't any options. If you don't have the right jacket, pants, boots, gloves, etc you just can't exist outside even for a few moments to brush off the car.
You can't be cold because if you're feeling the cold it's going to do damage.
The air near ice free water will feel much colder due to the increased humidity.
Analogous on an individual level would be air conditioning. Sure, it can be uncomfortably hot for a few days in summer, sometimes, but most people don't think it's enough to justify AC.
Yeah the UK have problems with heavy snow. Yes, many countries do. Yes, Northern Europe are better at dealing with it but still have their own issues. Like hotter countries are better at dealing with the heat.