Chaos as spring shivers to a halt
Cars buried in snow and roads left impassable as temperatures fall by 20c
THOUSANDS of homes were still without power last night after gale-force winds and Arctic blizzards lashed northern Britain early yesterday.
Motorists were left stranded on roads in some areas where eight inches of snow fell overnight, drifting to 4ft in places.
Severe weather warnings were issued for parts of Scotland, Wales, northern England and the Midlands, where temperatures have plunged by as much as 20c in the last week.
Seven crew members had to be dramatically rescued as 70mph winds and 17ft swells wrecked a cargo ship off the coast of north Wales, while there were reports of 40mph gusts felling trees and walls in Staffordshire and Shropshire.
Hundreds of lambs also perished on the North York Moors after farmers were caught out by the storms.
But while much of the North shivered in freezing conditions, there was very much a North- South weather divide. Tourists in the
‘Camping in 3ft
of snow’
South were sunbathing and splashing around in the sea in milder temperatures of 12c (53.6f) in Bognor Regis and Brighton.
Forecasters said anyone planning an Easter getaway in the UK need not be too disheartened because the freezing weather will not last. They said temperatures will begin to creep up today, giving way to dry and bright conditions for the weekend.
Around 100,000 homes lost power following the bad weather, with engineers working to restore electricity to those in Scotland, Yorkshire, the North East, Derbyshire and the Peak District.
Last night supplies had been reestablished to most homes, although around 12,000 were still without electricity in Yorkshire and the North East.
Scotland and northern England, especially around the Pennines, North Yorkshire and Cumbria, were the worst hit by the snow falls, although snow showers were reported as far south as Devon. Around eight inches fell near Durham early yesterday, which, coupled with strong gales, caused drifts of up to 4ft in places, bringing treacherous conditions to roads. As many as 40 vehicles were stranded between Tow Law and Castleside, while ten lorries were stranded following a blizzard on the M62 at Huddersfield.
In Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, twoyearold Charlotte Robertson was forced to swap her T-shirt and skirt for a snow suit as the village – which last week enjoyed the hottest March temperature in Scottish history – saw temperatures drop from 23.6c (75f) to just 2c (36f).
Angela Hodgson, who runs the Marfit Head Farm camp site, between Pickering and Whitby, in North Yorkshire, said visitors were shocked when they woke to 3ft of snow. ‘There are people camping and it’s 3ft deep,’ she said. ‘We were in our T-shirts and shorts last week having a barbecue, now look at this. They just want to get out and go home.’
A spokesman for the National Farmers’ Union said hundreds of lambs had been lost and farmers were struggling without power.
‘It’s come at the worst possible time,’ he said. ‘Lambing was going very well and some farmers may have been lulled into a false sense of security by last week’s warm weather and left their lambs out.
‘Loss of power supplies is very serious for farmers who need to clean their dairy equipment and heat sheds and lamps for livestock.’
The freezing conditions moved gradually south yesterday, bringing snow falls of up to four inches on high ground in Wales and sleet showers to parts of the Cotswolds, Salisbury plain and the South West.
London and the South East escaped much of the bad weather and temperatures will return to normal for April today, with highs of 11c (54f) in the South, and 10c (50f) in the North.
Good Friday will be mostly dry, although there could be the odd shower in northern parts, while Saturday is likely to be dry and cloudy everywhere.
Charles Powell, forecaster for the Met Office, said temperatures would be ‘recovering’ today and tomorrow to those expected for this time of year.
‘Temperatures we experienced last week were extremely mild, well above average, whereas those over the past couple of days have been at the other extreme,’ he said.