When snow wreaked havoc on the southern part of the United Kingdom on Monday, Winnipeg appears to have been the Canadian hot spot in the mind of British media.

BBC Radio 4 called Mayor Sam Katz on Monday night to get his feedback on how to deal with snow and how Winnipeg manages to keep traffic and schools running in Canadian winter weather.

The U.K., including the capital, London, ground to a halt earlier this week when the heaviest snowfall in 18 years laid down a 20-centimetre-deep blanket of the white stuff.

Katz told the program, World Tonight, that it would take a significant amount of snow — which he defined as 25 to 30 centimetres — before the Manitoban capital would come anywhere near grinding to a halt.

"We'd have to have a significant amount of snow but, in addition to that, it's usually the winds that cause us the problem," he said.

Katz was also interviewed on BBC Wales and a reference to Winnipeg was made in a column that lambasted London's preparedness for the snow in the Guardian on Tuesday.

"Yesterday London was so hobbled by the snow that the situation was even worse than hopeless: usually six million Londoners get to work by bus; yesterday there were no buses; the tube was even more spectacularly unreliable than usual. Even gnarly cyclists in all kinds of crypto-pervy winterwear were laid low," wrote columnist Stuart Jeffries.

Katz said the big difference between Winnipeg and London is that his city is accustomed to dealing with snow and has equipment on standby.

"We are set up to expect snow … so we know how to deal with these types of situations and to keep things going," he said. "When you're a city … or a country that … isn't set up for something to happen on a regular basis, it makes it much, much more difficult."

Winnipeg has an annual budget of $32 million for its snow-clearing operations.

Katz said Brits should keep their shovels handy, if they truly want to be prepared.

"I feel for all the citizens who are going through this type of scenario," Katz said. "It's not pleasant."