And on Wednesday the winds came.
They huffed and puffed, causing mayhem across the county, bringing down trees and power lines.
Add ice and rain to the problem and you have driving conditions that were treacherous.
As ever it was up to Public Works crews to go out and restore order, pulling trees from roads, clearing snow drifts and scraping icy surfaces so that vehicle tires could gain some traction.
The picture on Page 11 of a bus in a ditch south of Bloomsbury gives an idea of what ghastly weather descended on Barrhead last Wednesday.
There were similar scenes across the county and indeed the province.
So often we take the daily – sometimes nightly – efforts of Public Works employees for granted. We expect them to go out in appalling conditions and are all too quick to complain if we feel they come up short.
Too often we stay silent when a simple thank you is in order and would go a long way.
So to redress the balance let us all salute these winter warriors for a job well done.
