Back from a 2 km walk. Saw a gitter with the shovel 2" off the ground depositing a thin layer of grit on the snow and paintwork of parked cars. The equivalent of asking firefighters to spit on the flames.
Contrast this with last winter in Finland where I watched them clear 12-18" overnight snow down to the asphalt.
As usual in the UK we do the bare minimum of effort then claim this as a success.