Snow goin' in the Vale

The accident happened in Hampton on Wednesday at about 4pm just as school buses were taking children home.

Beat manager, Tom Iddon said: "Unfortunately the accident happened in the rush hour, and the heavy snowfall made things worse. There was no-one injured and officers took the motorists home because the AA were swamped with calls. Overall motorists were sensible and there were no serious accidents."

The gritters were hampered by the heavy traffic clogging the roads all around Evesham and Pershore but stayed out all night to clear main thoroughfares.

Fire fighters were also held up when they called to a chip-pan fire in a flat in Evesham at about 5pm. Leading firefighter Chris Pirt said getting there was the most difficult part of the incident. "The town was in gridlock by then, it was a bit of nightmare. The fire had been safely dealt with while a second engine was still fighting through the traffic."

Friday morning saw two road accidents. Two drivers escaped injury when their vehicles collided in Bredon at 6am, and a third driver was uninjured when his vehicle left the road near Pershore College at about 8.22am.

The snow was good news for children, however. On Friday morning they looked out over a winter wonderland, and many rushed out with their sledges when they heard that most schools had decided to shut.

Worcestershire County Council press officer, Lee Shrimpton said: "The schools closed for a variety of reasons. Some had transport problems with many children not being able to get in. Some temperatures in the school fell below the minimum requirement and snow and ice around other schools made the immediate areas dangerous from a health and safety point of view."

Vale weatherman Paul Demari predicts a big thaw. He said: "The weather is going to get much milder over the weekend with temperatures between 10 to 12 C or 50 to 54F during the day. The nights will also be frost free and between 6 to 7C or 43 to 45F."