Hundreds sleep in cars as snow causes standstill

Scotland had expected a relatively mild day and a return to normalcy when there was no snowfall yesterday morning, but their hopes were dashed when a torrent of snow – up to 15in – fell, hampering gritting efforts.

Several Scottish police forces and Transport Scotland put out a joint statement this morning, saying: “Due to the extremely cold temperatures experienced across the central belt overnight, the gritting operation that has been carried out will not have had a significant impact on the ice that has built up on roads across the region.

“People are therefore advised not to travel this morning unless it is absolutely essential.

“The situation is being closely and constantly monitored.”

Susie Smiley, a lone driver who is seven months pregnant, spoke of her frustration at being stranded for over 15 hours in her car.

“I left work at midday and had to park up in a car park until midnight and now I’ve been stuck on the road for another two hours,” she said.

“It’s terrible, I don’t even know what’s happening, I’ve just been stuck here. It looks like I might be here for the night.”

Stuart Stevenson, Scotlands Transport Minister, said this morning that the priority was to deal with abandoned vehicles.

He said: “Don’t travel unless you have to. Please don’t leave your vehicle. We will have to deal with abandonned vehicles today. It will be slow going during the course of today.”

Mr Stevenson urged motorists who are stranded to call Strathclyde Police on 0141 532 2000 for advice.

He added: “We want to get M8 and M80 major roads moving.”

Worst-hit were the M8 near Livingston and the M80 and A80 north- east of Glasgow, where up to 500 cars were trapped in ice and snow. The M74, M73 and A725 further south were also badly affected.

Temperatures were as low as minus 13C in Edinburgh and minus 11C in Glasgow overnight, reaching minus 16.7C in parts of the Highlands. Parts of Yorkshire and South Wales also saw minus 14C.

Kids sleep in school

Around 150 people – including 100 children – spent the night in classrooms at Hamilton Academy in South Lanarkshire after gridlocked roads and brought the region to a vitual standstill.

School principal Margaret Clarke said: “The children have bedded down in different classrooms.

“Some parents are managing to arrive now, but after seven- or eight-hour journeys. Many saw their children were happy and safe decided to join them and face the return journey (today).”

At 8am this morning, Glasgow and Edinburgh Airports were open after closing yesterday due to the weather conditions, but officials urged travellers to check with their airlines.

Belfast International and London City Airports also warned of delays and cancellations due to fog and freezing weather.

On the railways, the East Coast line between London and Edinburgh was still running a reduced service, and some Northern Rail services in Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire were cancelled.

The picture (below), taken from from Nasa satellite Terra yesterday, showed the extent of the surprise snow deluge.

North-east Scotland and north-west England face more snow today, with widespread icy roads expected up and down the country thanks to the freezing conditions.

There looked to be some brief respite from the freezing conditions on the way later this week – with many places expected to have their first frost-free night for more than two weeks on Thursday.

Nine deaths

In the last week, at least nine people have died due to the terrible weather conditions.

Peter Andrews, 64, was discovered in Darlington, County Durham, at 11.25am on Sunday.

A police spokeswoman said officers beleive he had died while shovelling snow.

Yesterday, Humberside Police said they had found the body of an elderly man under a layer of snow at a Lincolnshire caravan park on Saturday.

The man, believed to have been in his 70s, was discovered by security guards patrolling the Thorpe Park site in Cleethorpes, north-east Lincolnshire.

A spokesman said the man had not been formally identified and his death was not being treated as suspicious.

Two men, a 30-year-old and a 56-year-old, died in a motorway crash on the M62 in Humberside on Saturday, and the two girls from Carlisle, driver Jessica Lakin and passenger Grace Sarah Simpson, both 19, died after their Peugeot 206 collided with a Royal Mail lorry on the A595 road at Newby Cross.

Earlier in the week, two Cumbrian pensioners in Kirkby Stephen and Workington died after falling in their gardens where they spent hours lying in sub-zero temperatures until they were found.

And a good Samaritan who stopped his car to help a stranded motorist in the Yorkshire Dales was killed when he was struck by another vehicle.
The AA warned of continuing treacherous road conditions as the bleak weather went on.