Environment

Heavy snow and cold weather hits most of England

by Amy Judd | December 5, 2008 at 08:55 am

828 views | 7 Recommendations | 8 comments

Heavy snow and cold winds are affecting most of England, closing schools and causing havoc for travellers.

As I am currently in London, I can attest to how cold it is - the wind chill here is just deadly.

However, in parts of Scotland and northern England, more than 500 schools have had to be closed and police are warning everyone to take care when travelling anywhere.

In Lancashire, the Army was called out to help rescue 70 people trapped in heavy snow.
The 4th Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment freed 50 vehicles stuck on The Grane Road, between Helmshore and the M65 at Blackburn.
The Met Office has forecast further outbreaks of rain, sleet and snow over north-east Scotland and some heavy showers in Wales, Northern Ireland and the south and west of England.
Electricity company NEDL is still investigating after 1,600 homes in Scarborough and the North Yorkshire moors lost their power.

Passengers at Leeds airport are facing major delays.

The main risk right now is for heavy snow fall across the North Midlands, northern England and Scotland.

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escher1

at 11:27 on December 5th, 2008

escher1 has contributed a photo to this story.

wadey

at 12:11 on December 5th, 2008

This is Bonnie our Border Collie, she only has three legs but loves the snow.

wadey has contributed a photo to this story.

Barbara Mathieson

at 13:27 on December 5th, 2008

My nephew is visiting English and Scottish universities beginning today. I hope the Atlanta boy doesn't get discouraged by the cold weather. I hope he likes it.

Rachel Nixon

at 13:45 on December 5th, 2008

He'll be fine, Barbara. It rarely gets that cold in the UK any more. I grew up in the north of England and we often used to have heavy snowfall in the winter. Some (ahem!) years later, snow and freezing temperatures are not that common. In the south of England, if it snows, it will not usually be more than one or two inches at a time. That said, London grinds to a halt at the first flake of snow.

sskelman

at 13:47 on December 5th, 2008

It has been very cold up here in Scotland and many places have had heavy snow, but it's also very beautiful and it's good to see proper snow back again. after all it has been a while since it snowed like this. As long as we're careful when traveling, I say get the sledges out : )

mamma_sez

at 14:40 on December 5th, 2008

As an Australian now living in Cheshire, what caused havoc and headaches for others were moments of delight for us. Not exactly being use to winter snow falls, we were captivated by the beauty and magic of it.

mamma_sez has contributed a photo to this story.

view-for-you

at 03:09 on December 7th, 2008

We were looking forward to the predicted heavy snow but woke to nothing but more ice. I went walking with my friend Nic who is in the photograph. We walked upto the pike at Rivington and there was lots of snow and quite deep in places. It was so very cold but very beautiful stood on what feels like the top of the world. The views are without doubt breathtaking whatever the weather.
I wanted to capture a feeling of someone looking out to the horizons for that something that sometimes isnt found.
Thank you to Nic for helping me to capture my feelings and mood.

view-for-you has contributed a photo to this story.

woodstock1969 (not verified)

at 10:44 on December 23rd, 2008

Get used to it, or as is said here in Phoenix AZ in the goode ole USA, get juiced in it. Not only will this be one of the worst winters on record, but from the stats done by our weather NOAA dept, the interior dept, the vast water current temps, and a few other fatalistic signs, the next 2 winters will even be worse. The beauty of winter will lose its glow when the time comes to unravel whats beneath it. We expect many deaths in Europe and our own Northeast and Midwest. It a payback for the absurd "Global Warming" joke, and paybacks are hellish.