Hundreds of schools shut across northern Wales and England as icy blast causes disruption

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Hundreds of schools have been forced to close after heavy snow brought rush-hour chaos to roads across northern Wales and England.

Forecasters said up to 4 inches of snow would fall in parts of Britain as the “pest from the west” brought fresh disruption after the “beast from the east” last week.



'Beast from the east' brings heavy snow to UK and Ireland - in pictures Read more

Car crashes and other traffic problems were reported across Merseyside, Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire on Thursday morning.

The snow caused at least 130 emergency school closures in Bradford, with about 120 closed in Wales, 60 in Lancashire and dozens more from Liverpool to Calderdale and beyond.

Police in West Yorkshire warned motorists not to travel unless absolutely necessary after responding to numerous collisions by 7am, including on the M62 motorway.

A picture tweeted by West Yorkshire’s traffic police showed a badly damaged Mercedes and a warning that “even 4x4 vehicle wheels still skid on ice”.

WestYorks Police RPU (@WYP_RPU) Numerous RTCS coming in due to the snow. Please take extra care, even 4x4 vehicles wheels still skid on ice pic.twitter.com/ZMi4hTd6Gm

The Met Office has issued a yellow “be aware” warning for snow in Wales, the Midlands, Yorkshire and the north-west of England, although the worst of the weather was expected to clear by the afternoon.

A Met Office forecaster said: “Much of the lower ground will see little if any snow accumulating, but a patchy 1-3cm is likely in some places, with 5cm above 200 metres and possibly 10cm on roads above 300 metres.”

“Sleet and snow for upland areas and some lower ground as well. Some roads and railways are likely to be affected with longer journey times by road, bus and train services.”

North Wales police said snow was “coming down quite hard” in the region and advised motorists to be careful. More than 4 inches of snow fell in parts of Wales overnight – slightly more than last week when Storm Emma and the beast from the east brought much of Britain to a temporary standstill.

Forecasters warned that the weather would remain unsettled into the weekend, with a low-pressure system from the south-west bringing strong wind, gales and heavy rain to parts of Britain.

