Diggers out as schools shut in fresh snow misery - VIDEO
Scores of schools were closed across the region today as snow and icy conditions caused havoc across the borough, with JCBs sent out to clear some of the most blocked routes.
Hundreds of pupils were told to stay at home as a weekend of snow led to icy roads and difficult times for drivers. And dozens of school pupils from Wolverhampton are
.
Teenagers from St Edmund's Catholic School and St Peter's Collegiate School were due to arrive back from the Isle of Arran in Scotland on Friday morning.
But blizzards and high winds on the island have stopped them from travelling back to the mainland. Power has also been down since Friday and water supplies cut.
It comes as forecasters warned that the Arctic conditions will continue all week. And it could mean the first white Easter in five years.
Walsall Council today admitted gritters should have gone out earlier over the weekend. Scores of residents complained that the borough's gritting fleets had gone out later than neighbouring authorities yesterday – and had not gone out overnight.
Roads chief Tom Ansell today said decisions had been made on expert data and forecasts.
JCBs and snow ploughs were sent out to clear some of the most blocked routes in Walsall.
Drivers were warned to avoid Chester Road, in Brownhills.
Diggers were also sent out to Longwood Road and Old Hall Lane, in Aldridge, in a bid to get them reopened, while there was a build up of traffic due to temporary lights failing at
Wolverhampton Road, Pelsall, near to the junction of Livingstone Road.
The weather also caused a series of crashes on roads across the Black Country.
Five men in their late teens and early 20s had to be taken to hospital after the taxi they were travelling in crashed into a lamp post in Walsall.
Bin collections were also hit in Walsall today with the brown bin service suspended.
Schools closed in Walsall today included Barr Beacon School, Brownhills West Primary School, Caldmore Primary School and Shire Oak Academy.
