AS Worcestershire woke up to a blanket of snow, there was plenty of fun to keep schoolchildren entertained.

Almost every school in the two counties closed yesterday, leaving children with plenty of time to build snowmen and go sledging.

Your Worcester News was innundated with pictures of snowmen – and even a snow elephant – and we were so impressed by your efforts that we have launched a competition to find the best one (see page three).

And it seems some of you are already getting competitive about your snow building.

Janet Davies, aged 74, of Grange Avenue, Bevere, spent Tuesday building a small snowman in her front garden with her partner Ray Dixon.

But when she woke up yesterday she was stunned to find two much bigger snowmen had appeared alongside hers.

“I had been out Tuesday building a small one be-cause I love playing in the snow, I’m like a big child,” she said. “I have absolutely no idea who it could be, no one’s left a clue or a sign. It’s a mystery!”

But it wasn’t all fun, with temperatures due to plummet overnight there were serious warnings about road safety and plenty to keep the gritting teams busy.

Elsewhere in the country, snow levels peaked at 1.5ft (47cm) and emergency measures to alleviate the gritting crisis and allow Britain’s biggest salt mine to supply the country day and night were put forward.

Crucial transport networks went into meltdown during heavy snow flurries across the south as tens of thousands of children enjoyed an extension to their holidays after school closures.

The arctic weather cost Britain’s businesses an estimated £690 million yesterday as almost half of workers stayed at home because of the chaos caused by the snow and ice. Airports were shut, roads closed and train journeys cancelled, causing misery for millions.

But amid fears over the dwindling grit supplies and the rising casualty rate, the Government insisted services will “weather the storm”.

The deepest snow fall was 24cm (9.4in) at Odiham RAF base, just outside Basingstoke – but parts of the northern Highlands topped the tables with 47cm (18.5in).

In Worcestershire, your Worcester News weatherman Paul Damari was expecting last night to be the coldest so far and predicted “a nasty and treacherous cocktail” of snow and ice on the roads this morning.

Temperatures were ex-pected to plummet to minus 8C (17.6F) overnight and in more rural areas could fall to minus 10C (14F).

Mr Damari said it had been the worst spell of winter weather since 1981/82.

Crews in both counties worked around the clock to keep traffic moving.

Jon Fraser, Worcester-shire County Council’s community response manager, said there was enough grit to cope “for the foreseeable future”.

Mr Fraser said nearly 2,500 tonnes of grit and pad salt were sat in the county’s depots with more on order, although he warned further supplies could be re-routed to other areas of the country if they are deemed a strategic “priority”.

The council’s fleet of 26 gritters are spreading between 100 and 150 tonnes per day at the moment with the cold weather expected to last into the weekend.

County Hall has a £1 million budget set aside for gritting.

Mr Fraser said conditions were worse in the south of the county where priority routes, main roads and some B roads were being gritted.

“We’re treating urgent or dangerous roads and main routes. Otherwise we’re urging motorists to take care and stay indoors unless their journey is necessary,” he said.

People in Worcestershire are able to keep up to date with the latest on gritting, public transport and services affected by the weather through Twitter after the county council launched a special Twitter account.

In Herefordshire the message to motorists was – only make essential journeys. A and B roads across the county were reported to be passable with care after nearly 500 tonnes of salt were put down by gritters working throughout the night.

Hereford had about four inches of snow and up to 10 inches of snow has fallen on parts of south Herefordshire.

The county’s emergency services along, with Herefordshire Council and NHS Herefordshire, met throughout yesterday to make plans to ensure key services are maintained and communities supported throughout the spell of wintery weather.

Superintendent Kevin Purcell, of West Mercia Police, said: “The key message today is that people should seriously consider whether they have to venture out on the county’s roads. If you have to travel, then make sure you take plenty of warm clothing, food and hot drinks.”

West Midlands Ambulance Service urged people to only use 999 if a situation is life-threatening – anyone requiring medical treatment should consider using parts of the NHS other than A&E and the 999 service.

While hundreds of schools across Worcestershire closed their doors due to the snow yesterday, just a handful decided to stay open.

About 35 pupils from Worcester’s King’s Hawford School braved the cold weather to make it into lessons and play in the snow with friends.

Headteacher at the school in Lock Lane Jim Turner said: “What I felt was that for some parents it was really important that we continued to open and offer this service.”

Just a handful of other schools in Worcestershire remained open, including St Andrew’s CE First School, Bromsgrove; Lickey End First School, Bromsgrove, and Bewdley Primary School.

As your Worcester News went to press the following schools had already announced they would remain closed today: Arrow Vale Community High School, Redditch; Astley Primary, Stourport; Bredon Hill Middle School, Evesham; Broadway First School, Evesham; Catshill First School and Nursery, Bromsgrove; The Kingfisher School, Redditch; Suckley Primary School, Malvern; Tenbury CE Primary School and Tenbury High School.

All older people, learning disability and physical disability day services were also closed yesterday and many bus routes were affected.

Some shops reported panic buying. Staff at Costcutters, in Ambleside Drive, Wardon, said: “We completely sold out of bread and milk yesterday. We kept having to bake fresh bread to keep up with the demand.”

Hospital staff in both counties had to rely on volunteers in 4x4s to get them to work.

Richard Haynes, head of communications for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, put out an urgent appeal to all staff yesterday morning for help from 4x4 owners to ferry colleagues to work because of the treacherous driving conditions.

About six drivers gave lifts to people who would have struggled to get to work otherwise and the move helped to prevent staff shortages at a time when all three of Worcestershire’s acute hospitals are closed to visitors because of winter vomiting bugs, including norovirus.

Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service advised homeowners to take care when using portable electric heaters.

“The prolonged cold spell is forcing many people, who wouldn’t ordinarily use an electric heater, to dig them out and plug them in. Care should be taken – and we’re also advising that people check their smoke alarms – it only takes a few seconds, but can save lives,” said a spokesman.

Residents were urged to check up on elderly or vulnerable friends, relatives and neighbours.

Bin collections resumed in Worcester yesterday where it was safe to do so, but were cancelled in Herefordshire, Wychavon and Malvern.

Residents in Worcester were asked to leave their bin out and it will be collected as soon as possible.

In Herefordshire and Malvern residents should keep hold of their rubbish until their next scheduled collection day.

Household waste sites in Herefordshire are also closed today. But same remained open – staff at Worcester’s Astwood Road Crematorium worked hard to make sure it stayed open for services and to visitors.

And a village pub near Worcester remained open to offer people warm relief from the icy weather.

The Berkley Arms in Spetchley offered cold passer-bys complimentary bowls of soup.

Landlady Sian Thomas said: “We’ve had two families, and a couple, and two lorry drivers come in seeking solace from the cold at lunchtime today (Wednesday). We have a big car park so it’s big enough for lorries to stop.

“We’ll be offering the complimentary soup all week, because it’s forecast to be cold for the rest of the week. I don’t know if there’ll be more snow but it’ll still be cold."

Despite the weather, Malvern residents are invited to welcome in the new year by learning new skills at Worcestershire County Council’s Festival of Learning event today.

The event at the town’s library will give visitors an insight into a range of new activities such as cookery, food hygiene, baby massage, family history and drawing and paintings. The free event is from 11am until 4pm and there’s no need to book. For more details, visit worcestershire.gov.uk/libraries, or call 01905 822722.


• Keep up to date with the latest weather forecast for Worcestershire here.
• If you have to drive, check the latest travel news here.
• Check out our gallery of snow pictures here.