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Flood, mud and arctic freeze
SHIVERING Sheffield was today warned to brace itself for more Arctic weather with temperatures set to plunge to below freezing again tonight - and the threat of further snow on the way.
Motorists were today urged to take care as severe icy weather continued to make the roads potentially deadly.
Sheffield Council issued the warning to motorists as temperatures on high ground dropped to -6C in the early hours of today.
And forecasters today warned the severe wintry weather would last for the rest of the week.
Temperatures today were not expected to rise above 2C - below average for January.
Matt Dobson, forecaster from MeteoGroup, said: "There will be a fairly brisk northerly wind and a chance of Sheffield being hit by some rogue wintry showers coming in from the west or the east coast.
"On Wednesday there will be widespread frost, and chilly north easterly winds of up to 25 miles an hour will make it seem really raw."
Mr Dobson said there was a chance sleet snow showers from the east coast could also hit Sheffield tomorrow.
The weather struck with devastating consequences in one Peak District village which was flooded by 80,000 tonnes of mud and debris after a slurry pond dam collapsed at a fluorspar quarry.
Firefighters said it was "very lucky" nobody was killed or injured after the burst at the Cavendish Mill site outside Stoney Middleton turned the A623 through the village into a filthy river carrying boulders which flooded 40 homes.
Sheffield council's fleet of gritters were out during the night to treat the roads but motorists have been warned to take special care on side roads.
Ringinglow Road was this morning closed because of ice.
Serious floods hit more than 40 roads around the city following very heavy rainfall and snow on Sunday.
And some roads were covered in up to nine inches of snow on high ground to the west of the city, including Hathersage Road.
Sheffield Council's emergency services manager Wayne Southall said gritters had been dispatched to cover the high ground and then covered the whole city again.
"It was a problematic day. We had snow falling but at certain altitudes it was melting or coming down as rain.
It was snowing at higher levels but down at the lower levels we had extensive flooding.
"There were a few inches of snow at Fox House on Sunday afternoon but we managed to get things up and running again relatively quickly."
Last night the council's fleet of 16 gritters were out and about covering primary and secondary roads across Sheffield.
But highways bosses have been criticised after it emerged Peak District routes blocked by snow had not been fully gritted before wintry weather set in.
Motorists were stranded when roads including the A57 Snake Pass, A628 Woodhead Pass and A623 at Tideswell Moor were shut by the conditions on Sunday night. A lorry also jackknifed on the A57.
Derbyshire County Council admitted its gritters were not out in time to keep routes open.
The authority said it salted higher roads on Sunday morning and early afternoon, and had been due to salt all roads for a second time from 5pm - but was prevented by snow "earlier and heavier" than forecast.
Peter Moore, landlord of The Anchor Pub on the A623 in Tideswell, told The Star: "The gritters didn't come until between 10 and 11pm, by which time the traffic had dispersed.
"There was traffic as far as you could see. Lorries were getting stuck at the side of the road. It was mayhem, a bit of snowfall and it was all blocked."
A spokesperson for Derbyshire County Council said: "The snow came earlier and heavier than forecast."
The Snake Pass reopened at 7.15am today and the Woodhead Pass reopened last night.
In Sheffield, dozens of film lovers were evacuated from a cinema after torrential rain caused a huge flood.
Between 150 and 200 cinema-goers were asked to leave the Odeon on Arundel Gate on Sunday night after water, which had gathered on a flat roof, leaked into the building.
A toilet ceiling collapsed and the main staircase was flooded.
Firefighters from Central and Mansfield Road stations spent two hours pumping the water out of the building.
General manager Martin Ellis said said they had evacuated all the customers safely. Daytime screenings were also cancelled yesterday.
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Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: East
