Susan Morrison: Beast reveals a hero and makes kids happiest in Europe

And then it's all gone, and with it virtually every story on the telly, from empty shelves to bus drivers called Charmaine who seriously knows how to handle a double decker in dodgy conditions.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon meets Lothian Bus driver Charmaine Laurie who steered her double-decker to avoid a car which lurched into her path in the snow. (Picture: SWNS)

Let’s start a campaign to get Ms Laurie, The Ice Queen of Lothian Buses, on an episode of Top Gear.

Yes, I know it was disruptive, and some people were really inconvenienced by it. Being trapped overnight on the M80 is no one’s idea of a good time, especially if it gets followed up by a stern ticking off administered by an exasperated First Minister. On Friday night at the Stand Comedy Club, close on half the audience were stranded travellers. But for those of us not stuck on motorways and in trains it was a little break from the norm. We got out of work and cancelled appointments and hunkered down on the sofa with hot chocolate.

In time honoured tradition, our schools promptly shut the minute the Beast from The East hove into view. If anyone measured the contentment levels of Scotland’s schoolkids last week, I think you’ll find we smashed records for the happiest children in Europe, if the shenanigans on Leith Links were anything to go by.

Neighbours actually talked to each other, fetched what milk and bread they could find for older residents, and worked together to clear paths and pavements. But it was good to see the back of the Beast in the end.