The last few days have been an absolute nightmare in and around London. Until yesterday evening, the snow that had fallen last week remained frozen and it was almost impossible to get from A to B without slipping and sliding. The heart pounding moments when you think your feet have gone only for you to rescue your balance by flailing your hands like a madman were getting too frequent.

So what can you wear to help ease the stress? When I’m wearing leather soled shoes, I slide at the best of times. In fact, I have one pair where the left shoe slips a little at the end of every step. I haven’t dared wear them during this latest icy blast.

The overshoes that I mentioned earlier in the month certainly helped a little. The chunky rubber pattern on the sole gripped to the pavement much more effectively that the shoe. However, the overshoes are not a perfect fit to all the shoes on my rack. As a result, my shoe was moving inside the overshoe a little. The slippage was reduced, but not completely gone.

A friend mentioned getting some rubber soled shoes. I must admit that I had images of school shoes to begin with, but a quick search online revealed some quite elegant shoes with rubber shoes. But I couldn’t do it. The ridge where the welt should be looked ugly and most of the time the soles were coloured. Blues, yellows and bright greens. Why would I want to bring attention to the fact I was wearing rubber soles?

Perhaps I am being snobbish. But I would rather pay more for overshoes that fitted properly. Until then, perhaps some Spiky Plus might do the trick (a recommendation from a climber friend.)

Most likely though, I will revert to type. Since Sunday I have been wearing my tried and trusted adidas Superstars. And there hasn’t been a flailing arm in sight since.