Snowf lake Britain!
Officials ridiculed for ‘nannying’ tips (but maybe THIS driver should have listened)
HEALTH bosses have been mocked for urging people not to venture out in the snow and ice unless ‘really necessary’.
They were spurred into action after snow fell across parts of the country on Wednesday night.
In a tweet, they also warned people to don ‘appropriate footwear and clothing’ if they did decide to go outside.
The message was deleted last night and NHS England North said it had been put up in error.
But MPs said the warning was the perfect example of ‘snowflake Britain’.
Tory Andrew Percy, who represents Brigg and Goole, said: ‘Some countries around the world such as Canada have huge amounts of snowfall every winter and people still manage to go out and live their lives.
‘Of course people need to take care, but we don’t need turning into snowflakes because of a few snowflakes.’
Yesterday, parts of Scotland were brought to a standstill by snow and ice amid a spate of accidents.
Forecasters said commuters are likely to face further misery as the freezing conditions continue into next week.
Several roads throughout Aberdeenshire and the Cairngorms were badly affected by drifting snow yesterday.
A car ended up on its roof near Crathie, Aberdeenshire, but no one was seriously hurt.
On the A90 between Dundee and Aberdeen, a jack-knifed lorry brought southbound traffic to a standstill yesterday morning. The driver was cut free before being taken to hospital. Police said that there had been ‘numerous’ collisions and accidents around the north-east of Scotland due to hazardous driving conditions.
The heaviest snowfalls were in Moray and Grampian. But even low-lying areas were affected, with a covering in Aberdeen.
A woman in the Cults area of the city was taken to hospital after her car slid into her while she was defrosting it. She was not thought to be badly hurt.
People in Dundee, Angus and Perthshire also woke yesterday to snow, with motorists affected on the A9 Perth to Inverness road.
A Transport Scotland spokesman said yesterday: ‘As predicted by the Met Office in their weather warnings, travel in the north of Scotland has been impacted by wintry conditions.
‘BEAR Scotland, which looks after the north-west and north-east gritters on the trunk road network, had 58 lorries out overnight performing double treatments and the same arrangement will be in place tonight.
‘Our winter teams continue to closely monitor conditions across the network, treating roads where necessary and standing ready to help drivers.’
Met Office forecaster Steven Keates said the country was hit by one of the chilliest nights of the year, with a low of -10C in the Cairngorms.
Temperatures across Scotland are expected to stay low for most of the weekend. A low pressure front is forecast to continue next week, meaning more snow could be on the way.
Meanwhile, the cold snap south of the Border has prompted Public Health England to issue advice on keeping an eye on vulnerable relatives and neighbours and staying warm.
But it was accused of treating people ‘like idiots’ after suggestions on its blog included turning up the heating to 18C (63F), ‘moving around’ and ‘wiggling fingers and toes’.
Matt Kilcoyne, of the Adam Smith Institute think tank, said: ‘If it wasn’t for the nannying quangocrats I might have donned my bikini and sat in the fridge in order to keep warm.’
‘Treating people like idiots’