Misery for motorists as big freeze sets in
Drivers today faced treacherous journeys to work as the West Midlands woke up to more snow and freezing temperatures that have closed roads, shut schools, cancelled flights and led to bin collections being abandoned.
Drivers today faced treacherous journeys to work as the West Midlands woke up to more snow and freezing temperatures that have closed roads, shut schools, cancelled flights and led to bin collections being abandoned.
Temperatures plummeted to as low as -5C (23F) in the region last night causing snow on footpaths and roads to turn to ice.
Motorists today crawled along the region's roads as hundreds of school pupils were told to stay at home, with forecasters warning more flurries are on their way.
More than 20 schools across the West Midlands and Staffordshire were today closed, mainly because of problems with heating, including Barr Beacon Language College, in Aldridge, Sneyd Community School, in Bloxwich, and Willenhall School and Sports College.
Halesowen Cof E Primary School was also today shut after thieves stripped a 32ft long section of lead from the roof – before melting snow then flooded the main corridor.
Caretaker Graham Walker said: "It's the third time this term that we've had lead taken from our roof but this time, because of the melting snow, our corridor is awash.
"The latest theft happened on Monday night and the water started coming through about mid morning yesterday. We coped yesterday but we have closed the school to our 170 pupils today for repairs."
Severe ice on the playground led to High Arcal School at Sedgley closing to all except pupils aged 14 to 16, whose lessons were delayed to start at 10.30am.
Sukhjot Dhami, director of community cohesion at the school, said: "The whole playground is frozen over. We are putting grit all over it and hope to clear it by tomorrow. But today we just couldn't accommodate all 1,200 pupils due to health and safety reasons."
One lane of the M6 northbound was closed between junctions 13 and 14 after an accident, while Burntwood High Street was closed today because of the icy conditions.
Today Flybe flights from Birmingham Airport to Edinburgh were today cancelled, as temperatures in parts of Scotland plummeted to lows of -20C (-4F). Bosses grounded the 8.25am, 10.10am and 4.30pm flights because of the severe weather.
John Morris, spokesman for Birmingham Airport said: "The only flights affected from Birmingham are those to Scotland. We have been helping other airports by taking diverted flights from Gatwick Heathrow and Manchester."
Birmingham airport arrivals and departures here.
Walsall Council today warned that up to half of today's bin collections would be affected because of the severe weather conditions. Bins are due to be emptied in Delves, Caldmore, Palfrey, Birchills, Chuckery, Alumwell, Ryecroft and Reedswood today.
But council chiefs say it was "inevitable" the service would face some disruptions.
Roads across the region were clogged with queuing traffic during rush hour yesterday, while dozens of buses were delayed and cancelled due to snow and black ice. And bosses today warned of possible disruptions to services again tonight. National Express West Midlands, which runs 80 per cent of the region's buses, was forced to divert vehicles from badly affected areas last night.
A statement on the company's website warned that more services and the Midland Metro tram may be affected if conditions worsen today. The Diamond Bus company also stopped all its services last night due to "treacherous conditions" but its buses were back on the roads today.
A pedestrian was injured when a car skidded on an icy road and shunted into another vehicle in West Bromwich at 6.15 last night. A Renault Megane stopped to let the woman cross Charlemont Road, Stone Cross, but was hit as the cars shunted into each other.
The AA's national breakdown centre in Oldbury also reported its busiest ever November day in its 105-year history yesterday, taking 1,000 calls every hour and attending 14,000 breakdowns. Today bosses said they were expecting to attend up to 18,000 breakdowns.
Spokesman Paul Leather said: "There's more to come this evening as temperatures drop with ice causing big problems."
