The return of Arctic weather conditions today brought chaos to Shropshire as roads in parts of the county were paralysed by heavy snow and ice.

A thick blanket of snow covered large parts of the county and Mid Wales today forcing schools to close and some motorists to even abandon their vehicles.

The wintry weather caused massive problems for lorries travelling on the A49 at Preston Brockhurst, near Wem today.

A number of motorists had to abandon their vehicles on the side of the road because they could not get through.

Maria Wilkinson, a spokeswoman for West Mercia Police, said: “We received reports that the weather was causing problems for lorries on the A49 about 2.30am this morning. We contacted the highways department and they were dealing with it.”

Gritters were out in force in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin.

Emma Savage, a spokeswoman for Powys County Council, said gritters had been out since 1am salting the roads in its section of Mid Wales.

She said: “We have doubled the treatment countywide from 200 tonnes to 400 tonnes and they are still out on the roads this morning.”

There were also a number of emergency bus service changes in Shropshire.These included the Shrewsbury to Annscroft to Pulverbatch service which will be ending at Longden and operating back to the town centre.

Britain will be engulfed by a second Arctic freeze over the weekend, stoking fears that thousands of homes could be without heating and mountains of presents could go undelivered over the Christmas period.

Overnight temperatures are set to plummet to as low as -5C (23F) in parts of Shropshire and will not rise much higher during the day tomorrow. The mercury is expected to drop even lower on Saturday night and could reach as low as -7C (19F) in Shawbury.

The Met Office today issued heavy snow warnings for parts of the UK. Widespread ice was also expected in most areas during the rush hour.

Aisling Creevey, for Meteogroup, the Press Association’s weather centre, said the weekend’s weather looked bleak.

“Pretty much everywhere in the UK will be affected by snow showers at some point this weekend and day-time temperatures will really struggle to rise above freezing .”

School Closures

According to the Shropshire Council website the following schools are closed:

Primary schools closed
Brown Clee School is closed and pantomime trip is cancelled
Hopton Wafers Primary School is closed to children, but open to staff from 9.30
St Peters Primary in Wem is closed Church service at 10.45 is cancelled

Secondary schools / colleges closed
Corbet School, Baschurch
Sir John Talbot, Whitchurch
Thomas Adams School, Wem

Special schools
Severndale Special School, Shrewsbury is closed to children, but open to staff
Woodlands School, Wem

• Bishop’s Castle Community College is open, but buses operated by Horrocks will only serve main roads.
• Brockton School is open, but the Ludlow bus service is not running
• Church Stretton Secondary School is open, but, again, Horrocks buses will only serve main roads.
• Farlow Primary is open, but there’s no Morley Oak bus service
• William Brookes School, Much Wenlock is open, but Elcock’s buses from Broseley will only serve main roads, and the Acton Burnell bus will not go through Sheinton. If parents are dropping children off, please do not drive onto the school car park.

Telford & Wrekin

The Bridge Special School and Sir Alexander Fleming School in Sutton Hill are shut today.

• You can email details of school closures here or add them to the comment box below