Snow causing hazardous driving conditions
Snow in Great Bowden earlier this week
HAZARDOUS driving conditions are causing serious problems for motorists in the Harborough district today (Friday).
The constant flow of snow all day has settled and drivers have reported unpassable roads in some areas.
The A427 near Dingley and the roads around East Farndon are particularly bad and Ashley Way in Harborough and the A6 between Harborough and Desborough are posing problems.
A spokesman for Leicestershire County Council said at 3.20pm today that gritting trucks had been out last night.
There is more even more snow forecast for tomorrow (Saturday).
Pupils at Kibworth High School, Welland Park Academy in Harborough and Robert Smyth Academy in the town were sent home today at 2pm.
East Midlands Trains is urging passengers to check rail services before travelling.
The Met Office is predicting further snowfall for Saturday with a maximum temperature of -1C, feeling like -6C due to the wind.
Sunday’s antiques market in the Market Hall, Northampton Road, Harborough, has been cancelled due to the severe weather and forecast of more snow, Harborough District Council confirmed today.
A Towpath Working Party arranged for Saturday has also been cancelled due to the weather conditions making it impossible for the aggregate to be delivered by boat as planned.
Football and rugby matches in Harborough have also been cancelled.
Earlier this week snow fell through the early hours of Monday morning and into the afternoon, prompting the Met Office to issue a yellow warning as 2-5cm of snow was predicted.
The “yellow snow” warning drew several amusing comments on the Mail’s Twitter feed.
Leicestershire County Council’s gritter lorries used 320 tons of the authority’s winter stock of 11,000 tons on Sunday night in preparation for the conditions.
They continued to grit roads across the district throughout the week, as temperatures plummeted to -4C on Wednesday morning. Sherrier CE Primary School, in Lutterworth was also closed on Monday due to a heating failure.
Residents in Glooston were particularly badly hit by the icy roads as they are one of the villages not including on the county council’s gritting rota.
Alison Chapman, who lives in the village and whose family links to Glooston go back 200 years, said: “Whenever it snows here, it’s like living in the North Pole.
“There are six people in the village ages over 80 and two people who need nursing care and the nurses struggle to get here because the roads are so bad.”
She said it is made all the more frustrating because villages just a mile-and-a-half away are gritted.
“Surely if they are going in this direction anyway they could stop off” she added.
A county council spokesman said: “We manage and maintain around 2,575 miles of roads in Leicestershire and, unfortunately, it is not possible for us to grit them all.
“So, when ice is forecast, 45 per cent of the road network is treated.
“The gritting routes include A and B roads, some C-class roads, major commuter routes, major bus routes and, as far as is possible, at least one route through all Leicestershire villages.”
But the freezing temperatures did not deter everyone.
One group of fitness fans battled on regardless.
Tracey Gardner’s outdoor bootcamp session in Harborough went ahead as normal at 6.30am.
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Weather for Market Harborough
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 4 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 4 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: North west
