Parts of Britain were hit by heavy snow today, causing hazardous driving conditions and closing many schools. But Shropshire and Mid Wales escaped the worst of the blizzards.
A belt of heavy rain has now crossed the region, bringing milder temperatures, and things look quite good for the weekend, said Shropshire Star weatherman John Warner.
But he warned that the big chill is likely to return next week.
The snowfalls were caused by a wet weather system sweeping in from the west and meeting the cold air which has gripped the UK for the past week.
This caused blizzards for Scotland and northern England, with falls of 2ins in Staffordshire and 6ins in Scotland.
There was severe disruption on the roads, with routes across the Pennines blocked by snow and more than 100 schools closed in Yorkshire.High ground in Shropshire and Mid Wales saw some sleet and snow in the early hours but this had turned to heavy rain by daylight, with temperatures rising to 4C (39F).
Conditions were treacherous for a time due to rain and melted snow on top of the frozen surface of untreated country lanes.
Mr Warner said: “The main weather front has now passed over to the east and we will see blustery showers, with 40 to 50mph gusts, for the rest of today.
“Showers will dry out at the weekend as a ridge of high pressure over southern England takes control.
“Sunday will be sunny after early frost and fog patches, but it will get colder again on Monday or Tuesday.”
By Peter Johnson
11 Comments
Its that time of year again. Stop waxing legs and wax skis instead.
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Do I believe in Santa Claus or do I believe what John Warner telss us…difficult decision but I think Santa is far more plausable.
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Lucy W I would happily wax your legs huni :o)
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weathers crap… i want snow!!!!!!! n proper snow not the piddly couple of inches other places get….
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I drove up the East coast and into Scotland yesterday, and back down the West coast today. The most I saw was a couple of inches across Shap and the Pennines, and that was causing very few problems, certainly no blizzards. a Sainsbury lorry had come unstuck on the M6 and a car had apparently hit the central reservation all by itself. The accidents reported were in fact less than usual. Once again a huge over reaction from the media.
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Right, Mr Warner says weekend looks good with mild temperatures. I intend to stock up on bottled water and provisions because its obviously now going to be near Arctic conditions. Anyone know where you can buy a Huskie dog Sledge team in shropshire?
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It was around this time of year we had a massive snow fall in Shropshire and Mid Wales early nineties? I remember the extensive power cuts and being called out virtually all weekend! it was chaos! and John Warner missed it
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why carnt we just have a decent snow shower that lasts for the christmas season so the children know what a real white christmas is like wich would make it all the more christmassy for them
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I think its Health and Safety that have deliberately created Global Warming to reduce accidents in the snow and deprive us of Dickensian Christmas scenes. They are not called the Fun Police for nothing!
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get the snow shoes out, mr warner says it isn’t going to snow..
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Capt Chaos, yes I remember that one, it was probably 1990. I also remember the cold one in 1982/83 when it snowed before xmas and was so cold for weeks afterwards that it hung around for ages. (-25 degrees centigrade at Shawbury.) I was also a kid in the 1964 big one. I can’t remember the country grinding to a halt much for any of them but we didn’t have Health and Safety “experts” then to tell us what to do.
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