Ten things about snow

1. The average snowflake has a top speed of 1.7 metres a second.

2. They are always hexagonal but the majority are not symmetrical – uneven temperatures, dirt and other factors usually cause them to be lopsided.

3. Many believe that it can be too cold to snow because icy temperatures reduce the number of water droplets available to freeze into snowflakes. But according to the experts, this is a myth. "It is never too cold to snow," apparently.

4. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest snowflake on record measured 38cm wide and 20cm thick. It was observed in Montana, USA in 1887 and described by witnesses as "larger than a milk pan".

5. It is a myth that Eskimos have 100 different words for 'snow'.

6. Chionophobia is a fear of snow.

7. The world's largest snowman was actually a snowwoman. Residents of Bethel, Maine built the 122 ft giant in 2008, giving her 30 ft spruce trees for arms and skis for eyelashes.

8. Around 12 per cent of the Earth's land surface is covered in permanent snow and ice.

9. Japanese scientists have developed a snow-eating robot, fitted with GPS, which shovels snow from the drive and compacts it into ice bricks.

10. it is possible to grow your own snow. Kenneth G Libbrecht, Professor of Physics at the California Institute ofTechnology, claims it can be done simply using dry ice, a plastic cola bottle, three Styrofoam cups, nylon fishing line and a paper clip. See how it's done.