Those among you in the Great British isles this weekend will probably have some fairly strong opinions about snow. But although the BBC News site is saturated with articles about the effect on life, limb and liberty, there are certain things they won’t have covered.

1. The fluffiness of the snow depends on the fluffiness of the cloud it comes from.
The white puffy ones give the best light powder, while the dingy grey streaks of cloud give us slushy mess.

2. Snow contains horse DNA.
Well, they do pee like racehorses. All that water ends up in the water cycle.

3. The dish Baked Alaska was invented by the Donner Party.
Out of great tragedy comes great success. Trapped in the Sierra Nevada by impassable snow and treacherous conditions, their supplies dwindled and they resorted to some creative cookery (before finally going all out and eating each other).

4. Priests in the Middle Ages claimed snow was a punishment from God, sent to quench the lustful desires of the wicked.
They claimed the white snow was a sign that people should strive to be more pure at heart. They said that those who suffered or died from the cold were subject to God’s wrath for being sinners.

5. Competitive cycling in snowy conditions may cause testicular cancer.
The aerodynamics of professional bikes can mean snow builds up and settles at the groin area. Add The windchill factor through lycra and this can result in frostbite to the balls, increasing the risk of abnormal cell division. That’s what happened to Lance Armstrong. Even the doping couldn’t prevent it.