Snowy weather leads to broadband usage spike

The recent heavy snowfall in the UK has placed an additional strain on broadband networks and related communications technology, it has emerged.

According to BBC News, enquiries on the National Rail Enquiries website were up by 800 per cent with 32,000 users a second visiting the site at the height of traffic.

The Transport for London website also crashed at one point due to the excessive number of people attempting to gauge whether they could get to work.

A spokesman for T-Mobile told BBC News that it had experienced a 20 per cent increase in demand for broadband due to a greater number of people working from home.

This was mirrored by a 73 per cent increase in the number of calls being made as well as 21 per cent more text messages being sent.

A 3 networks spokesperson revealed: "We've seen a very steep jump in the number of picture messages sent across the network as snowmen make an all too rare appearance in gardens across the country."

Both the AA and RAC websites also experienced huge traffic spikes as people attempted to find a transport solution through the snowy conditions.