This is an interesting little chart showing the energy generation system in the UK today. It also shows why wind power doesn't work as a solution to the UK's energy demand.
As you can see wind is providing only 0.1% of the electricity demand of the country today (to be strictly accurate, in the 30 minute period the table is calculated for).
If you were to look at the front pages of the UK newspapers, or the weather forecasts, you would be seeing allusions to brass monkeys*, greatest freeze since 19elebenty and quite possibly forecasts of the return of the Frost Giants.
Yes, of course, overblown hyperbole: but we are going through a cold patch, as is all of Northern Europe in fact. So, having an energy generation system that doesn't work in cold weather isn't all that good. You should also be aware that almost none of us have air conditioning: our peak energy demand is very definitely in these cold winter snaps, not in summer for cooling.
It is possible, of course, that this is mere coincidence: no wind and cold weather at the same time, bound to happen sometimes. However, it's actually worse than that. Cold snaps in Northern Europe are almost always accompanied by no wind. For what causes the cold snaps is when an area of high pressure sits over the continent and, well, just sits there. And such areas of high pressure are, almost by definition, accompanied by no wind.
I will admit that I've not gone out and looked at the windmills where I am right now, in Eastern Germany. But it was minus 11 0C at noon (yes, very cold for here) and there was no appreciable wind that could be felt. I strongly suspect that there's very little wind power being generated right across Northern Europe today.
All of which means that wind power really doesn't work as an energy source for us Northern Europeans. For it's not just that energy production is low in this particular cold spell. It's that because of what causes our cold spells, wind energy production is always going to be low in cold spells. That is, wind power is almost always going to fail as a generating source just at the point of our annual peak demand.
And that's just not what we want from an electricity generating system really. Which makes the current plans to produce 30% of the place's electricity from wind turbines just a little suspect.
*The phrase actually is, "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey". The BBC used to think this was rude and so would change it to "wheels off a brass cannon". Which makes no sense at all as a monkey is, in archaic naval parlance, a brass triangle which iron cannon balls are piled up inside of. Given the different contractions of the two different metals as a result of the cold, when it gets cold enough iron cannonballs will fall off a brass monkey. Which makes sense and the BBC construction doesn't but then there's no stopping the BBC when they think that schoolboys might snigger.