Shropshire’s frozen – and there’s more to come
Monday 20th December 2010, 2:30PM GMT.
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Icy conditions and snow continued to cause chaos for motorists and travellers across Shropshire and Mid Wales today – as forecasters warn there is more to come across Big Freeze Britain.
Temperatures plunged to -10C (14F) in the county last night and the mercury went as low as -18C (0F) on Saturday night in Shawbury. Forecasters said the UK was experiencing the most severe winter weather in a century.
Most of the UK continued to face sub-zero temperatures with snowfalls of up to 20cm expected nationally today.
Aisling Creevey, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: “We will be seeing figures like this over the next night or two, with significant snowfalls forecast for Wednesday.”
Those hoping for a white Christmas may be disappointed however – with the weather for Christmas Day itself set to be “wet and windy”, she said.
Temperatures in Shropshire were expected to remain well below freezing overnight.
The cold snap will continue through tomorrow with temperatures ranging from -6C (21F) to -9C (16F).
Telford’s Lantern Parade, set to take place tonight, has fallen foul of the weather. The event will not be re-arranged. A planned workshop in Telford Town Centre Library today has also been cancelled.
Bosses at Hawkstone Park Follies were forced to cancel the Santa Safaris on Saturday due to health and safety reasons but the rides through the winter wonderland up to the follies where youngsters got to meet Santa went ahead yesterday.
Bus services have also been affected.
In Telford most services are running to normal routes but may be slightly delayed.
Keith Myatt, spokesman for Arriva, said the firm was unable to serve Clive village on service 511.
Bosses at Telford & Wrekin Council have ordered the gritters to go back out on the borough’s roads on five occasions since Friday afternoon in a bid to prevent accidents.
And West Midlands Ambulance Service has seen its busiest day since regional records began, beating the last three consecutive New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Days.
On Friday the Trust provided 3,941 responses throughout the West Midlands region – about 120 more responses compared with last year’s New Years Eve/Day.
Suzie Fothergill, at the West Midlands Ambulance Service, said: “A large number of these calls were to reports of breathing problems, road traffic collisions and slips, trips and falls.”
Meanwhile, an inquiry will be held into the way stranded passengers were treated at Heathrow airport over the weekend, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said today.
He said once the weather problems were over, there had to be a “discussion” about what went wrong.
Difficult driving conditions on the B5062 Shrewsbury Road through Edgmond, near Newport
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What?!!! All this and no white Christmas?!!!!
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I shouldn’t worry just yet, I’ve not seen two forecasts the same yet. They are struggling to forecast more than 24 hours in advance but are brilliant at telling us what the weather WAS like. Watch the next forecast, they’ll spend more time telling us who had snow & how cold it was, than anything else.
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I don’t agree with the caption on the picture. Those driving conditions aren’t difficult. There were plenty of cars on the road yesterday and nobody appeared to be having any difficulty – despite the roads being icier than the one above.
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The Original Jake,
The purpose of the comment is to warn drivers that conditions can be and in a lot of places are treacherous. The photo highlights a car, a road and slush/snow in the road. On top of this there may well be black ice which we can’t see……or perhaps you can! Such ice causes more than difficult driving conditions and as i have already mentioned the key points are driver safety and a caption saying ‘the B5062 is safe and the conditions aren’t dificult, rally around as much as you want!
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I take it back. Driving conditions are not just difficult, they’re dangerous – because it appears there’s somebody taking photos whilst driving a vehicle.
Please reassure me that this picture was taken by the passenger, not the driver… it’s just that from the field of view it would appear to be the driver.
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I was driving mid morning yesterday along Whitchurch Drive towards the town centre at a sensible, moderately slow pace. I went to slow at the Furrows island but my car didn’t want to stop. I managed to come to a halt by mounting the pavement (rather than continuing in front of on coming cars on the island) narrowly missing a lamp post. After that, I became a ‘crawler’! Sorry if I slowed anyone down, but it isn’t worth the risk!So HH7 I am with you all the way!
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Don’t use the brakes, except for the final couple of metres – and then only apply them VERY gently. Start shifting down through the gears well in advance and let the car come to a gradual crawl – even changing down to first if necessary.
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Headline news,the weather.Remember 1962-63.
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No i don’t, that was 47 years ago when dinosaur’s roamed the world.
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People writing the news must be ‘wet’ behind the ears. (old jargon).
I could show you a beautiful photo of My wife Corinne And son Marselan from the Kingsland side of the river, looking over to the Quarry in 1981-1983 when the temperature was -20 degrees C.
Whatever happened to wheel chains for cars and Golf shoes for walkers?
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I get more frustrated by drivers who drive too slowly on roads that have been gritted and are safe!
I followed a car on the A518 from Telford to Newport at lunchtime, that was doing between 15 – 20mph all the way. This road has been gritted, is clear of snow and can be sensibly driven at around 40mph
Its these incompetent drivers that cant drive in snowy/icy conditions, that cause accidents
Stay off the road and let those that can drive, do so in safety!
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Frustrated driver?? Idiot more likes.
None of the roads are safe!
Where do you get the idea from, that because the wheel tracks are free of snow the road is safe?
Road temperatures have failed to rise above freezing for days, the road salt is not as effective at the current temperatures we’re experiencing.
The only “incompetent drivers” on the roads are the ones like YOU.
Is it so important that you arrive at your destination 10 minutes sooner that you have to risk the lives of everyone else who is in your way?
Do you really want a dead child on your christmas card list for the rest of you life?
Fool!
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In these conditions it’s the manner of driving that’s important.
At 15mph on an icy straight, a car isn’t going to break into an uncontrollable spin. It isn’t going to happen at 40mph either, so both speeds are safe. However, one of them is more progressive and isn’t likely to cause queues. In fact, since an accident is more likely to happen in a stop-start queue, 40mph could arguably be a safer speed than 15mph.
At 15mph it’s still possible to jam the brakes on at a junction and slide into the path of another vehicle. At 40mph it’s still possible to begin shifting down through the gears well ahead of the junction and be almost at a standstill by the time you get to it without touching the brakes and without risking sliding. Again it’s the manner – not the speed – of driving that’s important.
It’s true that high speed combined with poor technique is more likely to result in an accident than low speed and poor technique, but since you know nothing of Frustrated Driver’s technique (which could be excellent) then calling him/her an idiot and incompetent is somewhat presumptuous.
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40mph on black ice. Good luck with that. Just make sure I’m not the one if front of you ;)
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40mph on ice with somebody in front would be classed as high speed and poor technique :-p
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Well said Gringo.
I’ve just moved back to the UK and have never driven in snow before. I’ve been driving carefully, probably not as slowly on main roads as 15-20mph but probably 10kmh below speed limit because I don’t feel confident enough (or stupid enough) to take any risks whatsoever. I don’t assume that because a road appears to have been gritted it can’t become icy again.
I’ve been tailgated on all the roads around Telford and Bridgnorth, people have overtaken dangerously at roundabouts and some drivers, usually in 4WDs or Landrovers have shown their frustration that I’m not zooming around like they are.
A friend who has driven in Shropshire for many years managed to have a crash the other day so I’m not taking any chances with my life or that of other road users.
No-one is going to hold it against you if you are late in this weather so please Mr or Ms Frustrated Driver slow down and try courtesy instead of frustration.
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Get a life Gringo and watch the police drivers, they are not doing 15MPH.
If you are doing 15MPH and there is a big queue behind you, all very close, maybe you are drivng too slow.
If you are driving 15MPH and everyone behind you is travelling at a good distance behind you, maybe you are travelling at the right speed.
Go with the flow.
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gringo says…
“None of the roads are safe!”
In that case, do you think you should be driving on them, if you are not feeling that you are driving safely?… think of the child you may hit.
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Had you actually passed a driving test as opposed to finding yours in a Christmas cracker, you’d have had the opportunity to read through a very interesting book called the highway code.
I’d like to quote if i may from the good book chapters 205&206
205 When driving in icy or snowy weather:-
Drive with care, even if the roads have nbeen gritted
Keep well back from the vehicle in front as stopping distances can be ten times greater than on dry roads
Be prepared for the road conditions changing over relatively short distances
206 Drive extremely carefully when roads are icy. Avoid sudden actions as these could cause a skid. you should:-
Drive at a slow speed in as high a gear as possible; accelerate and break very gently. ect.ect.
Now, in the interest of public safety, could you forward your address to the shropshire star? I feel the need to do my bit in this season of good cheer and send you a copy for Christmas.
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yes I passed a test some 37 years ago Gringo, when did you pass yours?
In that time i’ve driven over a million miles, mainly over rural B roads. Back in the severe winters of the early eighties, I was driving around 140 miles a,day on rural roads, without incident, in cars with no ABS or fancy traction controls.
It’s easy to learn how to learn to drive in bad conditions, Gringo but I expect it’s even easier to be critical of people who have taken the time to improve themselves, when you have stood still from passing a test.
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Gringo, it’s all very well being able to quote the highway code, page by page, just as I’m sure you could quote pages from a DIY book but it won’t make you any better at DIY.
Experience is the answer.
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Well said RR – Experience is the answer.
So come on all you drivers who haven’t had much experience of driving in icy conditions – get out there and start practising. Remember to be extra careful and don’t go to fast, indeed go quite slowly for your first couple of cold seasons. When you’ve got the hang of it you may wish to speed up a little but don’t go daft. More experienced drivers, like RR, will not mind you holding them up whilst you get the feel for how to travel safely.
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The Transport Minister is apparently making a statement in the next hour on the public transport problems the country is facing.
No one can control the weather, but it’s interesting that this Government decided that it was the Transport budget that would face some of the biggest cuts in the recent spending review. And of course the additional financial restrictions now being placed on local authorities means that some might well have to revise (downwards) how often they grit and the number of routes that get gritting treatment.
Add to that the allegations that the Transport Minister ignored or otherwise delayed recommendations made several months ago on reducing these sort of problems! I think that the only statement we should be hearing from Mr Philip Hammond is the news of his resignation…but no doubt he will just blame everyone else and announce an ‘enquiry’ (the results of which will again no doubt be ignored).
This lot really aren’t any better than the last lot, are they? :-)
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oh look the pic was taken by the driver….
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… or the passenger
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Good bit of advertising!
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Has anyone else noticed the contrast when driving from Telford & Wrekin managed roads to Shrewsbury CC managed ones?
The SCC ones seem to be much better managed in terms of snow clearance and effective gritting treatment.
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6 Jeepers
Cheap political point badly made.
The last governement had over 10 years to put in place the emergency procedures to cope with extreme conditions – they failed dismally.
5 Frustrated Driver
20 mph in these conditions seems sensible? what is it about your hectic life that requires you to rush everywhere risking the lives of yours and others??
Slow down stay safe, remember the kids and grandkids are looking forward to seeing you ALIVE this Christmas.
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Quite right ,”Right to reply”.
Which is why I said this lot were no better “than the last lot.”
It wasn’t a cheap political statement. Just an observation.
Try and keep up, will you?
;-)
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I remember 1981
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I’ve had no problems on my horse. We’ve had a lovely gallop this morning.
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