Video: How Nottinghamshire fared on what became ‘snow day’ on Thursday
A Nottinghamshire homeless man has died while sleeping rough as major disruption caused by freezing weather entered a second day.
The man was founded dead near St Swithun’s Church in Retford early yesterday morning (March 1) as the mercury dipped to minus four.
Police confirmed they were called to reports of a sudden death near the church at around 8.40am, adding a file will be passed to the coroner.
The man, who was in his fifites, was known as Ben and had been sleeping in a tent near the church, Lincolnshire Live reported.
In Nottingham, homelessness support charity Emmanuel House issued an urgent appeal for warm clothing, particularly scarves and gloves, to give to rough sleepers.
On Friday morning more than 200 Nottinghamshire schools remained closed after heavy snowfall caused treacherous driving conditions and turned pavements to icy sludge.
Nottingham Trent University also opted to close on Friday, and Confetti Institute of Creative technologies is closed for a second day. The University of Nottingham is still open.
Notts County’s fixture with Cheltenham in League Two for Saturday has been postponed, and Hammerhead, a miniature wargames and modelling show planned for Newark Showground tomorrow has been called off and rescheduled to April.
Video: Skiing and snowboarding at the Forest Recreation Ground
Bus companies NCT and Trent Barton reported better conditions on major roads but many more rural routes still face delays or cancellations. Trent Barton’s V1 service is not operating.
Gedling Borough Council is expected to assess its bin collection service today after Thursday collections were cancelled.
In the county, providers have struggled to reach some more isolated users of home meal and care services. Nottinghamshire County Council said its services were delayed but operational as some staff used 4×4 vehicles to get to some people in need.
Advice from Nottinghamshire Police early on Friday remained only to travel or drive if necessary, and to take extra care in rural locations where some roads have re-freezed overnight.
Video: Susan Smethurst, who is homeless, was among people given warm clothing
A Nottinghamshire County Council spokesman said: “The council is prioritising a number of services over the coming days due to the adverse weather conditions.
“Caring for the elderly and getting services to vulnerable residents as well as keeping the main highways and footpaths clear have been earmarked as key areas for concern.”
East Midlands Airport remained open on Friday as staff prepared to support as many incoming and outgoing flights as possible – although many airlines have cancelled flights. Passengers are asked to check with their airline before travelling to the airport.
A yellow weather warning from the Met Office for snow and ice remains in place for Nottinghamshire, and is not due to expire until 9am tomorrow.
More snow is expected to fall in the early hours of Saturday, but the outlook for Sunday is drier and slightly warmer. Temperatures will rise above freezing for the first time in days, but stay very low.
It will be slightly warmer on Monday, with forecasters predicting lows of one degrees Celsius and no snow.
