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Snow-related chaos continues

Date: 7/2/2009 03:31:57

Search: Britain snow chaos

Britain remained in the grip of winter as more heavy snowfalls completed five days of chaos with more snow predicted on Sunday.

The two main roads between England and South Wales were closed after sheets of ice up to a metre square fell from overhead sign gantries and smashed the windscreens of five vehicles.

Meanwhile 200 motorists were helped to safety after being stranded overnight when snow fell a foot deep in Devon. They were helped from their cars and taken to the village of Chudleigh by police, Army and civilian teams on the A38 and A380 south of Exeter and the A386 near Tavistock.

Thousands of schools across the country were forced to close while travellers faced airport hold-ups and train and bus service delays.

The two Severn bridges were closed for "safety reasons in the present weather conditions", said the Highways Agency.

Both the M48 Severn Bridge, which is 43 years old, and the M4 Second Severn Crossing, which opened in 1996, were shut. One lane in both directions on the M48 bridge reopened after nearly six hours, with a speed limit of 50mph, while the other bridge remained fully closed until further notice.

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Jim Clune, general manager of Severn River Crossing PLC, said sheets of ice up to a metre square fell from overhead gantries and smashed the windscreens of five vehicles.

There were no reports of injuries or accidents. The incident was "very unusual" and may have been caused by thawing, he added.

Forecaster Rachel Vince, of MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "Saturday will be a cold day and there should be some sunshine around, then Sunday sees another weather feature coming in from the west, and there may be some snow, turning to rain in most areas.

"Indications are that Monday's rush hour will not be as problematic as last Monday's, but it is something forecasters are keeping a close eye on, and people should be careful to check their local forecasts and traffic reports."

2012 © Press Association

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5 day forecastMy local weather

Partly Cloudy
London
min: 14º
max:26º
 
 

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