COLD SNAP SET TO LAST INTO MARCH SNOW END IN SIGHT
RURAL areas are being discriminated against when it comes to clearing roads of snow and ice, say fed-up residents.
People living in isolated areas of Gwynedd such as Rhosgadfan were stranded amid treacherous road conditions after salt bins had been left empty.
County councillor Aeron Jones (above) said the bins are not filled by the local authority unless community councils pay them to do so.
“The council grit the main roads but they have refused to replenish the salt bins in the villages,” he said. “This is the case for every rural village in Gwynedd. The policy is they don’t fill them up unless the community council pays.”
Cllr Jones said highways is a “problem for the county council and not the community councils”, adding: “People here are paying the same rates as people in Bangor and Caernarfon who are getting the grit along the main roads and into estates as well.”
A Gwynedd council spokesman said: “Gwynedd council has been operating a service for some time where it charges community and town councils to re-fill salt bins. Before this was implemented, the council wrote to all town and community councils to notify them and to provide them with adequate notice to consider whether they wished to take over responsibility for any grit bins they considered to be a local priority. The local community council for the Rhosgadfan area is not
THE bitterly cold weather could last for the rest of the month with forecasters predicting more snow could be on its way.
Snow, ice and sleet has hit North Wales over the past few days, with motorists forced to abandon their vehicles on the A470 at the Crimea Pass last Sunday due to the treacherous conditions.
More wintry showers and gusts of 50mph struck in the following days, causing treacherous conditions on routes including the A55 at Rhuallt, where two vehicles crashed.
The recent cold snap is being controlled by a huge polar air mass from northern Canada which is expected to be a major influence for some time.
But the Arctic air mass appears to have split – called a Polar Vortex – and forecasters believe this could result in a much colder end to winter.
A Met Office spokesman said: “We highlighted that a Sudden Stratospheric Warming event could affect our weather later this month.
“This sudden stratospheric warming has now happened and we are monitoring its influence. There is a lag time between a sudden stratospheric warming and any impact it might deliver to UK weather conditions, so it is too soon to determine exactly what impacts it could have.
“However, there are some signs that high pressure could build over Europe resulting in an easterly flow.
“Although we wouldn’t expect continuously cold conditions, there is a greater chance of blocked conditions reoccurring.”
Long-range forecasts predict the end of February will revert back to colder weather, with widespread overnight frosts.
However, snow could return in some parts in March.
The spokesman added: “Temperatures at the start of the week will be around average for the time of year, but there will be a trend toward colder weather by the end of the week and into the start of the following week.
“As we move into the first week of March, it is likely to stay cold but often dry and settled with widespread overnight frost.
“There will be a greater chance than usual of easterly winds, which would bring very cold