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SNOW LATEST: Airport reopens as South Yorkshire returns to normal - but wrap up Monday
News: The Star - bringing you news on-line 24-hours a day.
SHEFFIELD and the rest of region is returning to normal after the first snow fall of the season caused serious travel disruptions to the road, rail and air network, writes Graham Walker.
Motorists have been warned to allow extra time to get in to work early tomorrow as snow which remains in some parts could turn to ice. But most major roads are now passable with care.
Doncaster Robin Hood Airport re-opened at 4pm after snow on the runway forced it to close.
It had taken four hours longer than planned to clear the runway because of freezing temperatures, explained spokesman Robin Tudor.
Heavy snow also hit bus services on Sunday.
Bus operator First Bus said Sheffield routes were operating on main roads only and many Rotherham routes had been disrupted. Buses were as normal in Doncaster.
Sheffield City Council gritters had not been able to clear some secondary routes because of abandoned vehicles but the major road network was “passable with care”.
Supertram services were operating normally although some delays were expected due to the weather and road conditions.
A Met Office spokesman said the region would continue to shiver un til the end of the week. He said: “Most of the snow melted away as temperatures rose today to around 3C today and that should set the tone for tomorrow.
“But that’s still cold and there will be areas of lying snow affecting some parts. There may be a return to more settled conditions from Tuesday as easterly winds become established.
“But at this stage the cold weather looks likely to last through to the end of the week.”
SNOW PICTURES: Email your snow photos as jpegs and we’ll publish the best in paper and online - email, with SNOW PHOTO in the subject bar, remembering to include you full anme, address and phone numbers in the email, then send to staronline@sheffieldnewspapers.co.uk and copy in to letters@thestar.co.uk.
SNOW ALERTS: Tell everyone what’s happening in your community, whether streets are passable, closed, buses running, shops open, etc - leave a comment below and tweet your news to @SheffieldStar with hashtag #starsnowalert
The Travel South Yorkshire website - the hub of public transport information for the county - crashed last night. But TravelSYorkshire was continuing to give regular updates on its Twitter site at @TravelSYorks
Half of all flights were axed at Britain’s busiest airport - hours after it stopped snowing.
More planes were grounded today at London’s Heathrow Airport following Saturday’s adverse weather and the airport’s decision to axe 30% of its flights. The decision came as wintry showers ceased across the country and forecasters predicted dry conditions and a partial thaw.
A spokesman for Heathrow said the move was designed to minimise disruption and in anticipation of possible freezing fog. While the runways, taxiways and stands have been cleared of snow, only 50% of the 1,300 scheduled flights are now going ahead. But the airport insisted its “snow plan” had worked “far better” than in previous years.
A spokesman said the airport was “getting back to normal” as it worked to clear the backlog of flights, and added: “By cancelling flights in advance airlines have been able to rebook some people on to flights that are departing, and passengers have had better quality information about whether they can fly or not.” Extra staff were being drafted into terminals to help passengers rebook flights.
Heathrow’s usual flight schedule is due to operate tomorrow but passengers were warned there may still be cancellations because of today’s disruption, with aircraft and crew needing to be repositioned. Travellers were advised to check the status of their flights ahead of departure.
Other airports affected included Stansted, Birmingham and Luton where operations were suspended for a period on Saturday night as snow piled up on the runways. Their services resumed today, albeit with some delays. A full schedule of flights was planned for Gatwick Airport but passengers were warned of possible disruption.
The latest upheaval came after a night of heavy snowfall which saw Britain wake up to a carpet of white. The big freeze brought dumps of up to 16cm, with forecasters warning the snow would linger in many areas as temperatures remained low. Away from the picturesque scenes, motorists battled with treacherous conditions as the weather brought severe disruption to the roads. Many drivers were forced to spend the night in their cars as traffic came to a standstill on the M25. Train services were also affected - Southern Railway warned of potential delays and cancellations, with journey times extended by up to 30 minutes.
Transport Secretary Justine Greening defended the decision to cut flights at Heathrow and said bosses had taken the “right approach”, adding: “Actually cancelling flights in advance so passengers don’t get to the airport and then find their flight being cancelled was one of the main recommendations of the inquiry that Heathrow held into the debacle last year when we saw huge disruption. They are clearly trying to manage the airport and I think the most important thing is making sure that we put safety first. We’ve got to get planes up into the air and down on to the ground safely. That does take a little bit more time to make sure wings are de-iced and that the runways are clear, but overall they’re trying to do their best.”
London Ambulance Service experienced a surge in 999 calls with 2,500 coming in between midnight and noon - an increase of more than 26% on the same period last Sunday, it said.
* For photos, reaction and more on this story see The Star tomorrow.
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Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: East
Comments
There are 27 comments to this article
Page 1 of 2
Los Blancos Galactico Rossoneri Mancunian
Monday, February 6, 2012 at 12:41 PMI guess the removal of unpopular traffic lights and work to widen road on Meadowhead is delayed due to snow! Why do Council and Highways always have to pick the wrong day to do the work?! They could have done it in December or January where it didn't snow!
Charlie Farleigh
Monday, February 6, 2012 at 08:29 AMSimply unbelievable that the buses stopped Saturday due to lack of gritting. We had 5 days notice of this and still the main roads do not work. I wonder if, perhaps, that concentration was given to Sunday gritting when the rate may be double time rather than the time-and-a-third available for working Saturdays. Does anybody know?
cakelady
Monday, February 6, 2012 at 12:22 AMThey were gritting in Woodhouse on Friday and possibly Thursday as well. 2 men were throwing grit all over the village square and roads. Well done, It was appreciated.
ISeeEverything
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 07:59 PMI can't comment on the situation regarding gritters because I don't live on a main road, but I do know that on Friday the Council spread an inch of rock salt on the pavements of Firvale and Firth Park in anticipation of the snow.
theloxleycountryclub
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 06:12 PM(Response to comment 9) I drive for a living on the main roads and side roads of Sheffield. I was out yesterday from 8am to 6.45pm. I must have seen at least a 100 gritters (though many of course might've been the same vehicles). I was out today from 9am to 5.30pm and again I've seen gritter after gritter. Also, the amount of grit they're dispersing is more than I've seen in previous years. That the main roads were largely kept open and this morning were easily negotiated is a testament to their endeavour. Well done gritters and well done the managers of the gritters for keeping me going yesterday and today. Thank you.
Mick71
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 06:10 PMyesterdays snow fall in sheffield was a joke. At 8830pm last night Eccelsall rd, CLarke House Rd, Glossop Rd, Manchester rd & Crookes rd were all covered in 3 to 4 inches of snow. Cars sliding everywhere. Was blatantly obvious the gritters ploughs hadnt been out and werent out in these MAIN road areas. This caused busses to stop running and or terminate before reaching their scheduled termination point. If sheffield city council, who said in fridays star they were prepared for this, had gone out and gritted the roads properly, the buses would have worked the grit into the roads properly and all the main roads would have been open allowing busses and other traffic to travel. Its also quite strange how supertram ALWAYS manages to operate and travel UP & Down hills in ALL weather and they have smooth metal wheels on smooth metal tracks. 90percent of drivers in sheffield have no idea how to drive and prep their vehicle in winter, and bus drivers have just become overpaid p u s s y 's. When i was a kid it used to snow november to march 12inches plus and all the A and B roads were allways cleared even if it meant snow ploughs and gritters were going along it every hour and buses never stopped running unless they had broken down. It's a shame that now it all boils down to how much money it costs to keep the roads clear. It acctually costs us more as a nation not keeping the roads clear. Also if sheffield stopped taking in the rest of the worlds drop outs that we are constantly paying we'd have the money we need cos we wouldnt be paying it to them in benefits etc
doggtheveryspecialdeputy
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 04:41 PMadeliza, you dont need to even look that far, I live in Germany and believe me when I say the UK is a running joke to these lot, they just dont undertand why we mess so much up and never learn. Yes winter tyres are not cheap but they are no more that other tyres and your other tyres will not be wearing when you have them on so it works out no more expensive overall. £45 - £75 ea, depending on the size of your wheels, usually cheaper to just get a set already on steelo rims, then you can change them yourself aswell.
adeliza
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 04:02 PMi totally agree with all the comments about canada, my aunt lives in calgary and winter 2010-2011 they had 8 foot of snow fell and guess what, nothing stops, everything from public transport to schools and public buildings carried on as normal, we really are pathetic in this country, it was on the news earlier that some shops down south have run out of food as people where panic buying, makes me laugh it really does!!!
Los Blancos Galactico Rossoneri Mancunian
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 02:42 PMThree people injured after vehicle hits wall in our so called big city! The driver simply cannot control the vehicle in snow and didn't have winter tyres or was driving at a speed that is not suitable for the road conditions!
waywoodwind
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 12:09 PMperhaps people should invest in Universal Multigrip Snow Socks from Halfords ,,,,,, my son has ,,,,, if your pride & joy is worth many thousands of ££££££ ,,,,, £60 for piece of mind ,,,,, seen them in action in Scotland by the RAC on T.V.
seenitall
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 12:08 PMcakelady...having lived in Canada and paid my taxes there I can tell you that they do have major equipment for clearing the main highways but in the small town Canada I know, a couple of heavy snow plough trucks ( which double as ordinary lorries for the rest of the year), a few gritting lorries and a few snowblowers for clearing sidewalks ( yes, they clear sidewalks...in the parks as well) keeps a 'City 'of 40,odd 000 people moving...added to which are the privately owned ploughs which are fitted onto the fronts of every self respecting 4x4. ....and I paid less local tax over there than I do in my snow challenged home-town.
serendipity
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 11:55 AMWinter tyres are the obvious answer, but the only people I know who have had them fitted had to fork out nearly £450, which is snow joke to people on low wages who see half their earnings taken away by various taxes.
cakelady
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 11:47 AMBecause of the severe winters in Canada, they spend a lot of money on snow clearing. Can we really justify the expense for the small amount of snow we get here? The people who are complaining are the same people who complain about council tax and waste.
unclepotter
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 10:45 AM2" snow = Street Force = Chaos
seenitall
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 10:15 AMLife goes on regardless in Canada for the simple reason that it has to go on...They prepare for it...winterisation of vehicles, snow ploughs fitted to trucks other than the authorities own, roads ploughed and then gritted and, of course, an attitude of mind which isn't freaked out by a shower of snow. The biggest laugh of all is our much vaunted International Heathrow Airport where the only lesson learned is to cancel flights early!
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