CITY DIGS IN TO HELP
Heroes join forces to assist people in need
been inundated with complaints from workers who claimed they were being forced to go to work despite government warnings not to travel.
Dave Moxham, STUC deputy general secretary, said: “We have been shocked by the cold-hearted way in which many employers have treated their workers. There is no excuse for not paying heed to weather warnings. Requiring staff to get to work in adverse conditions is exploitation.”
The conditions also put paid to many events being held in the city including the X Factor Tour 2018, which was scheduled to go ahead at the SSE Hydro last night.
A Hydro spokesperson said: “Every effort was made for the show to go ahead but our guests’ safety is our number one priority. Ticket holders are advised to contact their point of purchase for a refund.”
Robroyston mum Leah McConnell was disappointed at how long it took the venue to announce the postponement. She said: “It’s crazy. They’ve left it awfully late. They had an update yesterday and then nothing, and the phones have been constantly engaged. It’s very disappointing.”
Indie-rockers Django Django also had to cancel their gig at SWG3 last night. But it wasn’t all bad news as Glasgow Film Festival resumed its programme after cancelling screenings. The Glasgow Film Theatre reopened yesterday and was scheduled to run until 10.45pm last night.
GLASGOW’S community spirit is famous around the world. And the urge to help fellow residents came to the fore during yesterday’s severe weather as medical staff, care workers and locals went above and beyond to keep the city running.
Medical staff and emergency workers have been praised for their “amazing” efforts to get to work as extreme weather conditions gripped the country.
Many hospital staff walked miles through the snow to get to work, while others slept overnight at work to ensure they were there for their next shift, borrowing scrubs to wear as pyjamas.
Some were helped by members of the public who stopped in 4x4s to offer staff lifts into hospitals, while some companies offered the use of their 4x4 vehicles and drivers.
Workers at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow have posted about their experiences on the staff Facebook page.
Helen Watson said: “I was working the night shift on Tuesday and drove home to West Lothian but left home again at 3.30pm to come in for the night shift.
“Not everyone has made it in but everyone is doing their best, walking, sharing lifts and even sleeping over to make sure they are here for patients in the morning.
“You don’t go into the NHS to get any reward; it’s because you have a passion. We need to put patients first.”
Nurse Pauline Geoghegan launched an appeal for a 4x4 driver in the Baillieston area to help her get to work.
She issued the plea for help to get to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.
She said: “My colleagues are all working 24-hour shifts, it’s important we get in to relieve them.”
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Director of Human Resources Anne MacPherson praised staff.
She said: “We are greatly impressed and appreciative of the efforts made by our staff to care for patients in the most challenging of circumstances. This has happened all over the board area, in our hospitals and community settings.
“All our clinical and non-clinical teams have been working behind-thescenes to keep our services running.”
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde cancelled all non-essential operations and outpatient appointments on Thursday due to the severe weather.
Shona Cardle, Chief Executive of Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity, praised workers who made it through the snow to ensure the Royal Hospital for Children was adequately staffed.
She said: “We are in awe of the staff who have battled through the snow to make it in to the hospital.
“They are dedicated to the children and families they help and are very much needed so thank goodness they are there.”
Three men who came to the aid of drivers stranded in the snow on the M80 over night were also hailed heroes after delivering pizzas and Irn-Bru to people.
Adam Kirk, 32, Barry Currie, 30, and his dad Peter, 50, braved the blizzards to take food and drink to people who were stuck in the snow on the M80 on Wednesday night.
The dedicated trio took pizzas and lentil soup they cooked at home, as well as protein bars, chocolate, bovril, tea and Irn-Bru, to hungry drivers on the motorway.
Adam, a head chef, Barry, a gas technician, and Peter a bin man, walked for almost an hour in the hazardous conditions because they were worried about vulnerable drivers.
Adam, from Cumbernauld, said: “About 7.30pm my neighbour said him and his dad were thinking about going down to the M80 to take stuff to people stuck in their cars.
“So I packed up what I had in the house and we started walking down. It was like one big picnic.
“It took us about 45 minutes to walk half a mile because the snow was so deep. There were no cars on the road heading towards Glasgow, so we just walked right down the M80. I was worried about there being kids, or vulnerable people stuck in their cars, so we just wanted to make sure they were okay.”
After all routes in and out of Buchanan Bus Station became blocked, around 60 people were left stranded.
But kind-hearted staff stepped up to the challenge and kept the bus station open, providing portable heaters and foil blankets.
And they even held a sing song to keep spirits up.
Customer services and security manager Michael Ferrie said: “Staff were, as always, absolutely brilliant and immediately stepped up to the challenge when it became obvious that no buses with any operator were able to go anywhere. All the passengers were extremely grateful and we all tried to make the best of it, we even managed a wee sing song at one point to keep spirits up.”
Meanwhile, Canadian coffee giant Tim Hortons offered free coffee to emergency service workers.
ASEVEN-year-old girl became the latest to die during the severe weather t hat has now reached the south of England.
The child, believed to be a pedestrian, was fatally injured after a car hit a house on Bodrigan Road in Looe at about 2.30pm, yesterday in the Devon and Cornwall area.
Hundreds of motorists were left stranded overnight as extreme weather continued to wreak havoc, with forecasters warning the country “is not out of the woods yet”.
Two police forces declared “major incidents” as the Army was drafted in to help rescue those left trapped in their cars.
Hampshire Police said it had called in the military to help evacuate people from the A31, while Avon and Somerset Constabulary said about 100 vehicles had become stuck on the A303 at Ilminster.
In Greater Manchester, hundreds of drivers spent the night stuck on the M62, with police warning wind speeds had reached 90mph over the Rakewood Viaduct, between junctions 21 and 22.
A red weather warning – the second in 24 hours – expired at 2am, but amber warnings for snow were still in place for much of Scotland, the North East of England, and parts of Northern Ireland, running until 10am, and for wind and snow in south western parts of the UK until 8am.
Yellow warnings for snow are also in place for vast swathes of the country for the whole day, while a yellow warning for wind covers the North East of England and Wales until midday.
Temperatures will once again be below freezing for many parts of the UK during the day, with strong winds making it feel even chillier.
Met Office meteorologist Steven Keates said: “We are not out of the woods yet. There’s further snow to come, as well as a wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain.
“Even parts of London and the South East are not immune to seeing more snow through the afternoon – not as much as yes- terday, but still enough to cause further disruption.”
The whole of the Irish Republic is also on red alert, valid until 6pm on Friday, after being hit by the worst snow in 35 years.
Evelyn Cusack, senior forecaster with Met Eireann, warned 40cm of snow could fall in parts of the east and south.
A 75-year-old woman was earlier found dead in a snow-covered street in Leeds, while Hampshire Police said a 46-year-old man died after a collision involving a lorry and van on the A34 southbound near Tot Hill services.
A 60-year-old man who died after being pulled from the water at Danson Park, near Welling, south-east London, on Wednesday, was named by the Metropolitan Police as Stephen Cavanagh.
The National Grid also issued a “gas deficit warning” prompting fears of a shortage, but households were reassured domestic supplies would not be affected.