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The fact that heavy snow succeeded in paralysing much of eastern Britain yesterday has prompted an outpouring of scorn - and in one case poetry - from our overseas readers.

"Pathetic country. What is the big deal? Why are you trying to make out that 300mm of snow is a lot? " demanded Peter Jones in Moscow. "Enjoy your wallow in such hard times, you pathetic people. Who was it that coined the phrase 'Whingeing Poms'? How accurate, how very accurate."

"Hee, hee, hee... London and snow, it´s always the same story," smirked Dominik von Muehlberg, of Cologne in West Germany.

"Hard to believe the country that founded the empire on which the sun never set and dominated most of the globe could not deal with a few inches of snow," mused Regulus de Leo, from Vaughan in Canada.

"Pathetic, absolutely pathetic, a few centimetres of snow and the country is paralysed. Where is the so called British spirit? No buses or trains, and amazing that it snows below ground in England thus preventing the underground from running," snorted John from Kunovice in the Czech Republic, who had clearly been looking at the photo of a London Underground worker sweeping snow off a platform on an overground section of the District Line.

Much of the criticism focused on the fact that London had been flummoxed by a quantity of snow that would be dismissed as nothing out of the ordinary in colder climates where snow falls every year. This prompted some one-upmanship.

"I'm from Wisconsin...and I think everyone from Great Britain should travel to the midwest every once in a while just to understand what winter is actually like... cuz what Britain is getting right now is nothing compared to America's midwest," wrote Elizabeth.

Daniel, who lives on the shores of Lake Erie, Pennsylvania, was even more specific. "Our first snowfall this season was two weeks before Thanksgiving. Since then we've had more than 12ft of snow, some areas more than 20ft. Outside my house right now is about 35ins of snow. GET OVER IT, buy a shovel and get digging!"

"Hey ! Sorry that you guys in London, UK, got hit with snow. Noticed you can't handle it very well!" wrote Charles Gangarossa, from New York state, USA. "What would you do if you lived in Buffalo, NY, USA? We get 6 to 10 inches daily lately! Come visit Buffalo in the winter and you will appreciate the little bit of snow you got! Happy shovelling!"

A lot of observers felt the need to offer advice - or even the loan of some equipment.

"30 cm of snow? Not bad. Welcome to Canada. I've got a snowblower in the garage if anyone would like to borrow it," offered Brian, from Toronto.

"Here in Tallinn the past 3 mornings have been respectively -17, -10 and -12 degrees Celsius," reported Phil in Estonia. "This is regarded as pretty normal for January and the only contingency I need to take is the use of winter tyres of the same variety available in the UK - not studs as everyone seems to imagine."

"Probably should buy some plows (sic), even if you don't need them every year," advised KPO'M, from Chicago, Illinois. (We'd like to, KP, but Boris says it's too expensive.)

From some commentators, there was pity.

"It's very easy to make fun of Londoners who have never experienced the weather we get here in Canada. Don't feel bad, we called out the army ten years ago in Toronto when we had a big snowstorm. We will never live it down :)," consoled Leslie, from Toronto.

Others were a bit more sympathetic.

"How we Yanks forget that Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, were both shut down because of snow this winter. Big cities have a few Achilles' heels and you are seeing one of them. Big cities are great at times and at times they suck," wrote Sean, of Klamath Falls, Oregon, USA.

"Can I point out that snow in the UK is 'wet snow' unlike the 'dry snow' that falls in Eastern Europe, Russia and the northern US. It is harder to deal with as a result! You cannot prepare for a decades length event - too expensive. Just enjoy it - I did!" wrote Gavin O'Brien, of Canberra, Australia.

The Spanish daily El Mundo was unique in finding the snow an inspiration. "It happened last night as if by magic. London was suddenly transformed into a white city. A dream-like city, shot through with snow, defenceless against the worst snowfall in decades," the newspaper gushed.

"The weatherman had forecast snow for Monday, but the White Lady brought forward her arrival by a few hours, leaving her calling-card in the small hours of Monday and devastating this morning's return to work.

"It was a delight to stroll yesterday along the Charing Cross footbridge, making out a white-capped Big Ben in amongst the snow, treading through the still virgin snow that the rush-hour would convert in a few hours into a dangerous mixture of ice and mud."