West Midlands weather: Snow returns as councils defend reaction to the cold

After a cold and mainly clear Saturday, cloud, sleet and snow returned to the region overnight, leaving a thin covering of snow across much of the West Midlands.

The Met Office had issued a severe weather warning for snow, predicting between one and three centimetres in low areas and temperatures of as low as -3C.

The Met Office said: "Outbreaks of sleet and snow will spread from the North West on Saturday, initially into western Scotland, and then into parts of north-west England later in the day before reaching the Midlands and southern England during the evening and night.

"One to three centimetres of snowfall is likely at low levels with 5-10cm possible above 200 metres across western Scotland and Cumbria.

"Ice may prove an additional hazard in places.

The yellow 'be aware' alert is the same low level as the office's previous two alerts and was valid from 11am on Saturday until 6am on Sunday. Motorists were advised to expect hazardous conditions and to prepare for disruptions.

The latest warning was put out as councils came under fire from taxpayers for their reaction to the cold snap.

Wolverhampton City Council received the most criticism after many of the city's roads came to a standstill on Friday.

In response to a barrage of negative comments, council bosses issued a statement saying: "Gritting crews went out following rush hour on Thursday night and gritted normal priority routes between 6pm and 9.30pm.

• Send us your snow winter photos using the form at the bottom of the article

"The gritting programme was based on the forecasted conditions and those observed through the night.

"Temperatures overnight were generally above freezing and the roads were moving well in the early hours.

"However, there was a sleet shower followed by a very sharp drop in temperatures between 5am and 6am which left some icy conditions. Unfortunately, the timing of this did not give the gritting teams an opportunity to grit the complete road network in time for this morning's rush hour as it takes four hours to mobilise and complete a gritting run."

Staffordshire County Council, meanwhile, has slashed the number of roads gritted in an effort to save £400,000. However, bosses insisted that after gritting just the major routes on Thursday night, the vehicles did go out again later to the extended road network.

The county gritting fleet took to the priority major routes at the first sign of snow on Thursday, before being sent out twice yesterday to cover the extended road network.

Dudley Council was slammed for the slippery surfaces shoppers had to contend with throughout the town centre.

In High Street, a pregnant woman was witnessed falling to the ground, followed by another woman who required treatment from paramedics.

Eye-witnesses described seeing the two women fall within quick succession of each other.

Wayne Thomas witnessed the pregnant woman's fall from his market stand. He said: "It scared her, I think. She really banged her head."

People who saw her fall phoned Dudley Council asking them to grit the road, which eventually took place shortly before 11am, nearly an hour after the ambulance had arrived.

Tracey Wollam added: "An ambulance had to be called for one woman who fell over and a pregnant lady also fell over.

"Everybody was slipping. I had to ring the council to tell them to grit the street."

Councillor Hilary Bills, cabinet member for environmental services, said: "We are aware of an incident in the town centre this morning which was caused by freezing temperatures and snow.

"Clearly the council cannot grit every footpath in the borough but we do try and make public areas as safe as possible.

"Our gritting crews will be out over the weekend to keep almost 300 miles of borough roads usable."

Sandwell council generally escaped the castigation received by other authorities, with spokesperson Claire Bustin saying the council had planned ahead for the Arctic snap.

She said: "We are constantly monitoring the weather forecast and our gritters are on 24-hour call from now until March, so they will go out if we need them over the weekend.

"Our gritting crews were out from 10.30pm until the early hours of the morning and also the following afternoon.

"We treat over 260 miles of road in each gritting run. We will be gritting town centre footpaths for Saturday shoppers."

Last night, gritting teams were sent out across Walsall borough's road network in an attempt to improve road conditions after the Met Office issued a warning of more ice.

Councillor Adrian Andrew, the authority's deputy leader, said six routes covering 267 miles of roads were treated.

Areas cleared during include the A4124 in Willenhall, Lichfield Road in Bloxwich, Aldridge Road and Pleck Road in Pleck.

Councillor Adrian Andrew said: "We have gritters passing through six designated routes covering a variety of road types across the borough.

"We also have a team of community snow champions,who are given salt bags to clear snow and ice from paths and footways to help in the community. These go out on a voluntary basis."

The hazardous conditions are expected to continue throughout next week, as a battle between cold and warmer air takes place.

The UK will be positioned between cold air extending from Scandinavia and less cold air from the Atlantic, resulting in some periods of sleet, snow and, eventually, rain.

Temperatures should start to rise again towards the end of the week.