Mobile phone networks reported a surge in text messages as people kept in contact with friends and family.
More than half a million texts were sent in the five minutes after 8am. Vodafone reported a 58 per cent leap in texts to over 30 million Employees contacted bosses, family and friends to tell them they had been snowed in, or were unable to get into work. There was also a surge in MMS picture messages with people sending images of their snowy surroundings. Network 3 saw MMS double as people took photographs and uploaded them to blogs or social network profiles.