REPLAY: Heavy snow causes major disruption across Nottinghamshire

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ski-snow-nottingham
Sean Driscoll took to his skis in Lenton. Photo by Hugo Gardner.

Heavy snow in Nottinghamshire has closed schools, made many roads dangerous or impassable and caused widespread disruption.

Between 7pm on Wednesday and 6am on Thursday around two to three inches of snow fell across the city and county, adding to a powdery layer which had arrived the day before.

A yellow weather from the Met Office is still in place for Notts and temperatures are at around minus five celsius – although wind means what forecasters call the ‘feels like’ temperature will be as low as minus 12.

Even major roads became treacherous and more that 250 schools in the area have closed for the day.

Here’s how a snowy, chaotic day unfolded on our live blog.

17:20 We’re winding this blog down for the day – safe journey if you are heading home, and stay warm. We’ll be keeping across things on Twitter and Facebook, and back with any major updates tomorrow.

16:44 Bin collections have also been affected today – none were collected at all in Gedling today, here’s what the borough council had to say;

“We’ve had snow pretty much all day which has meant, unfortunately, we couldn’t collect any bins today (Thursday 1 March) as nobody wants a 20 tonne freighter stuck on their cul-de-sac do they?
“We are keeping a close eye on the weather but won’t know if we can collect any bins until tomorrow morning (Friday).”

The authority asked people to sign up to its bin collection alert system and to follow its twitter feed for updates.

16:08 Forecast update: A bit more snow, essentially, for the rest of the day, but not as heavy as overnight/this morning. Temperatures will not get above freezing. Tomorrow will again be very cold, but there’s much less chance of heavy snow, although the yellow weather warning issued by the Met Office will stay in place.

Weather forecast for Nottingham tonight, Graphic: Met Office

16:04 Roads update: Not too bad, traffic-wise. Owing to the fact no one is really on them, most routes are quiet and have no real delays. But advice remains not to drive unless your journey is absolutely necessary and to allow extra stopping distance.

16:00 Trains update: Try not to, basically. East Midlands Trains said an hour ago they were encouraging customers not to attempt to travel. Nottingham to London services are down to one an hour.

The company said: “We are encouraging customers to not attempt to travel today in the dangerous road conditions and whilst our train service being severely disrupted.  Ticket restrictions have been relaxed for advance tickets and off peak also customers who have tickets for today, may use them for travel tomorrow.  Also customers wishing to travel tomorrow may travel today with their tickets.”

15:43 Buses update: Also good news from Trent Barton, who are running most services albeit with some delays and diversions as follows;

sixes – Derby to Belper only along A6, not serving Ripley, but 6.1 will go to Matlock, along the A6
sevens – not operating
allestree – not serving Woodlands Top
i4 – RUNNING FULL ROUTE
comet – terminating at Alfreton, no service to Chesterfield.
three A -RUNNING FULL ROUTE
three C – cannot serve Sotheby Ave, or Sherwood business Park
9.1 – RUNNING FULL ROUTE
ninety – RUNNING FULL ROUTE
pronto – not serving Devonshire Terrace/Doe Lea towards Chesterfield
141 – not serving Barbara Sq/Ward Ave
21 – can now serve both Marlpool/Hallam Fields
H1 – operating via Tesco in Heanor
black cat – cannot serve Sherwood business Park or Mutton Hill
1a – cannot serve Waingroves or Aldercar
27 – cannot serve Larklands
villager 1 – not serving Hilton estates
swift – RUNNING FULL ROUTE

Trent Barton said: “All other services are running the full route, but please expect delays due to the road conditions. If the service is not listed above, then it is operating the full route.”

15:33 Buses update: As the road and weather conditions have improved, so has NCT buses’ day and service. Delays to their services are currently no more than 5-7 minutes. Nearly all services are running along their normal route. A few aren’t, which are 15, 25, 30, 39, 42 Shuttle Bus, 44/A, 46, 47. More info:

15:10 Stop it now. This was sent to us by Sean Driscoll in Lenton. Filmed by Hugo Gardner. Genius.

14.40 Before we update you on all the travel as we head towards the end of the day, here’s a perfect snowflake pic. Caught by Notts TV’s Kelly Burnett-Thomas and Chloe Bicknell while at the City Ground.

14:10 East Midlands Airport has re-opened its runway, but flights are delayed and many have also been cancelled. Ryanair has cancelled all flights to and from the airport for the rest of the day.

13:46 And some more important information on rail services. From now, East Midlands Trains is cancelling some of its Nottingham to London services, saying it is “proving difficult” to run services safely and on time.

East Midlands Trains says:

“Whilst the severe weather conditions continue we have had to review our timetable and are looking to implement an amended timetable.

“We are currently looking at reducing our trains between Sheffield & London St Pancras to one train an hour.  The following trains will be cancelled on the hour.

  • XX:26 London St Pancras to Sheffield, XX:30 Leicester, XX:40 Loughborough, XX:48 East Midlands Parkway, XX52 Long Eaton, XX:05 Derby and XX:28 Chesterfield.
  • XX:49 Sheffield to London St Pancras, XX:02 Chesterfield, XX:21 Derby, XX:31, XX:35 East Midlands Parkway, XX:43 Loughborough and Leicester XX:53.

“The first trains to be cancelled will be the 12:21 from Derby to London St Pancras and the 14:26 London St Pancras to Sheffield.  Our 12:26 and 13:26 from London St Pancras to Sheffield will be cancelled between Derby & Sheffield.”

13:30 An update on the roads and homecare services has been provided by Nottinghamshire County Council, which says nearly 250 schools are shut today in the county alone.

In a statement, the authority provides the following;

“Home care services commissioned by the County Council are continuing to do their best to ensure that a service is provided to vulnerable people in their homes during the severe weather conditions. There is however disruption to the service and people can expect delays. If a member of the public has any concern they should contact the Council on 0300 500 80 80.

“The Meals at Home service is continuing to ensure that meals are delivered to vulnerable people in their homes during the severe weather conditions however there is disruption to the service and delays are expected. There are 4×4 vehicles ready to support with deliveries.

“Almost 250 schools are closed today (Thurs) across Nottinghamshire. The decision to close a school rests with the head teacher and is made after considering a number of factors including the health and safety of staff and pupils, staff availability and road conditions near a school.”

12:27 Both Nottingham Trent University and the University of Nottingham are open as usual today, although Trent’s rural Brackenhurst campus is closed. Here’s a lovely look around University Park this morning courtesy of Uni of’s Student Union.

11:50 Up in Newark the National Civil War Centre has built a snowman and decked him out with armour and a musket. Somewhere to take the kids who are off school? And can you beat that for snowman fancy dress?

11:38 NCT buses are still reporting widespread disruption, but Lime 56 and 57 have returned to their normal routes after earlier diversions.

11:20 Here’s the view from Heart Church in Nottingham earlier this morning, taken by Notts TV’s Merryn Rae Peachey

11:02 Here’s how the snow has stacked up overnight, a couple of inches on the ground already combined with more overnight and some drifting equals a whopping seven inches of snow in the back garden of Notts TV’s Tiffany Higgins near the city centre.

10:48 While Nottinghamshire has a yellow warning for snow, parts of the UK now have a rare red warning, where people are being advised not to travel at all if possible.

10:41 With more than 200 schools now closed across Nottingham, there are tens of thousands of kids at home and demanding fun in the snow. And this man on Derby Road has delivered.

10:33 This is the scene on Elm Avenue, Mapperley, where Notts TV’s Kate Chaplin has been wrapping up warm to take a few picturesque shots.

10:29 In Jacksdale Notts TV’s Charlotte Swindells says things are still moving, but the roads are very slow: “The main roads are starting to improve now after having had some cars on them, but still very slippery. Housing estates and smaller lanes are still quite dangerous and are completely covered in snow.”

Here’s the state of the roads as Charlotte heads to Watnall (she’s not the one driving);

10:23 Time for a forecast update. The Met Office expects the snow to stop now, and it should stay away for a few hours yet, although the risk of bursts of flakes remains.

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Graphic: The Met Office.

10:19 And out in the county in Jacksdale, north of Eastwood. Notts TV’s Charlotte Swindells took this one.

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Photo: Charlotte Swindells.

10:16 This is the top of Portland Road, Arboretum this morning, taken by Notts TV’s Lydia Flavell.

Photo: Lydia Flavell

10:12 There you have it. The police are advising you only to drive if you have to and to take food and drink with you if you do. Some of the roads really are that bad right now.

10:04 Despite the weather the city council still went ahead with its launch of its new eco-friendly taxi fleet and MyTaxi app on Old Market Square this morning.

The council unveiled two of the models of next generation taxi vehicles which it wants the city’s whole fleet of hackney cabs to convert to in the coming years. The first of the new electric cabs – an LEVC (London Electric Vehicle Company) e-city vehicle – and a cleaner diesel Mercedes Euro VI were on show.

Alongside this, the mytaxi app will be launched in Nottingham – the first city outside London to get the free smartphone app, which connects people with licensed cabs.

Photo: Nottingham City Council

10:01 And here’s the current list of school closures in Nottingham city. Worth pointing out that some schools are only partially shut. At Carrington, for example, reception (foundation) classes are closed however rest of the school remains open.

09:58 The list of schools which are closed is growing by the minute. It’s fair to say the majority of schools in the county are shut – but check the full county list published by the County Council.

09:50 Confetti is posting updates on its website for students, and is advising people to check its Twitter and Facebook pages for updates over the coming days.

09:45 Another one to add to the school closure list – we can confirm Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies in Nottingham is closed today.

09.30 First off we can show you what the situation is like in the city centre. This was the castle and Maid Marian Way around half an hour ago.

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