Heavy snowfall in Wales disrupts transport and school

Friday, 15th January 2010

Another heavy snowfall has brought again widespread disruption to most UK cities.

In Wales, a bus had crashed into a house in Carmarthenshire. While in Cardiff, 60 lorries were trapped at a service station, 750 schools closed, and the city’s airport operations were disrupted and only resumed after a 12-hour closure.

The Met Office yesterday issued a warning of extensive ice on roads. On Wednesday evening, temperature on the Welsh coast was above freezing, but inland was down -2C with a threat of heavy snowfall. Ice and fog will still remain as main problems in Wales, resulting in road closures and in motorists using longer alternative routes or avoiding to travel.

News agencies reported as well that about 5-inch of snow fell in Porthcawl and Bridgend. South Wales Police advised residents to go out only if the trip is very necessary.

In Carmarthenshire, a bus skidded into a house while a family was sleeping. Sarah Skilton said that the vehicle had caused huge damage to the house and had also hit a BMW car. Luckily, Skilton and her family, including two sons aged seven and 10, were unhurt.

In related news, around 60 lorries were jammed near Cardiff due to ice on the exit road and two vehicles jack-knifed as they attempted to leave. Driver Rose Beckett from Warwickshire said that she had never experienced such road problem in nearly 30 years of driving in Europe – including Austria, Germany and Germany.

Meanwhile, four UK flights were affected as Cardiff Airport closed earlier and around 750 learning institutions across Wales announced that they will not open today.

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