Snow’s over . . . but the cold is here to stay

The snow that hit many parts of the West Country late on Saturday might have gone, but the region looks set to be in the grip of a late winter cold snap for at least the rest of the week.

Temperatures plunged to minus -9C overnight yesterday, and will remain low all week, forecasters said.

Rush-hour motorists had to deal with icy roads yesterday morning, as the fall-out from the weekend’s snow and big freeze continued to pose problems.

Pupils at Pewsey Primary School in Wiltshire had an unexpected day off after staff arrived to find a burst pipe had flooded the school over the weekend. Head teacher Nicola Gilbert said the burst pipe in the boys’ toilets had caused a large amount of damage.

Meanwhile, Swindon Town Football Club were in a race against time to make sure their pitch would be playable for their Football League Trophy southern area final against Barnet tonight (TUES).

The club said it would be asking for compensation from a firm it brought in to erect a giant dome over the County Ground pitch and install hot air blowers to thaw the pitch ready for Saturday’s home game. It said the firm had failed to do so because it had not used enough blowers, and the match was eventually called off after the referee’s pitch inspection on Saturday morning.

And while football fans were affected by the big freeze, thousands of holidaymakers from the West were eventually reaching their destinations yesterday following a weekend of disruption at airports and railway stations across the south of England.

Julie Sheppard and her family left their home in Wiltshire 12 hours early for a flight to Turin from Stansted on Saturday night, but their journey turned into a nightmare as the M25 ground to a halt for six hours in blizzard conditions.

The family eventually arrived just in time to board the plane but delays caused by security staff at Stansted not being able to get to work meant they missed the flight and spent Sunday night at the airport too before finally getting away yesterday.

Police are advising motorists to take extra care on the roads, with icy roads and freezing rain showers expected. Temperatures will rise to a maximum of just a few degrees above freezing, but the deep frosts experienced at the end of last week will return towards the end of this week.