Welcome to March and a land covered in snow... and that's not fiction.
The UK does get snow, but usually not very much unless you live in Scotland or Northern England. Head south, to where I live, and it is much rarer.
Dickens set a lot of his books in the deep of winter. It highlighted the struggle of the poor to survive against the weather and the uncaring attitude of the wealthy. I'm no Dickens (thankfully - that man could write a sentence that went on for a page or two), but I've noticed that my latest two books - Last Winter Sun (due out around May/June) and SwordMaster (Due out... sometime in the future) are both set when winter's hold on the land is weakening.
I can't tell you I did that to reflect Dickens's ideas, nor because snow was coming down because it wasn't. There are bits where I can see the influences on my writing - the politics of the day, the events going on - that kind of thing.
Anyway, after four days of being trapped inside (except for the snowball fights, snowmen and sledging with my kids), I am getting close to finalising Last Winter Sun - just polishing the rough edges, tweaking a few sentences and looking forward to seeing the cover. Exciting, if cold times!