This week's short-lived blizzard made life difficult for estate agents trying to sell houses. Viewings were cancelled all over town, and staff were happy to stay put in the office, or indeed at home.

Jackson-Stops, which specialises in country estates, was particularly affected, maybe because many of its staff, like its clients, live in the country. On Tuesday, when the snowfall was heading for between a quarter and half an inch, it closed its Dawson Street doors in the early afternoon so that its staff could get safely home to the sticks!