More travel chaos as big freeze continues into April

Snow showers and bitterly cold easterly winds are set to persist as the heaviest March snowfall for 30 years continues to cause havoc.

Drivers are being urged to take particular care with lying snow partially melting during the day and refreezing at night expected to create treacherous icy conditions on the roads.

Engineers were last night continuing their battle to restore power to hundreds of homes across parts of Northern Ireland, Cumbria and Scotland.

Many routes remained blocked by drifting snow including the cross-Pennine routes Snake Pass and Woodhead Pass, with snowdrifts in excess of five metres deep (16ft 4in) reported in places.

John Davis, returning to his buried car which he abandoned on Friday at near Denholme, near Bradford, on his way home from work, said: “It’s crazy. I’ve not seen anything like this since 1977, when I was a kid.”

Snowdrifts up to 8ft deep have cut off England’s highest pub, the Tan Hill Inn in Swaledale, stranding six staff members and guests.

Landlady Tracy Daly said conditions were some of the harshest she could remember there in 11 years but added: “It is like a moonscape out there, it looks beautiful.”

It is hoped the road to the pub, which has been blocked since Thursday, will be cleared today.

Gritting crews in Sheffield spread 2,500 tonnes of grit over the weekend with 300 people working on clearance efforts.

Chris Morris, operational director for Sheffield City Council’s contractor Amey, said: “This has probably been the most challenging weekend for us so far this winter and we thank people for bearing with us during this difficult time.

“We were hampered in some places by cars that had been abandoned which meant our gritters couldn’t get into the street to clear it. The other big issue for us came on the rural high ground where high winds were creating snowdrifts. We saw drifting of more than five metres in some places, it was staggering.”

Leeds Bradford Airport remained open last night but bosses issued a warning that weather conditions could cause some disruption to flight schedules.

The Holme Valley Mountain Rescue Team, based in Marsden, near Huddersfield, said it was called out four times to help the ambulance service to get to patients through the heavy snow that hit the area over the weekend.

In one incident, farmers also pitched in to help rescue a woman injured in an accident involving a horse at a farm in Upper Cumberworth, near Penistone. She was moved from the scene using a tractor, while other tractors were used to clear snow from the roads to make way for an ambulance.

Rescue team spokesman Owen Phillips said: “The ambulance crews have made valiant efforts trying to do their job in horrendous conditions, but ultimately they aren’t equipped to get through snow like this.

“At the job at Upper Cumberworth it was fantastic to see the efforts of everybody involved – the ambulance crews, the doctor, the farmers who cleared the road – everybody working together to ensure the patient got to hospital safely despite the conditions.”

Farmers say the wave of Arctic weather has come at the worst possible time.

National Farmers’ Union vice-president Adam Quinney said: “The first consideration is the livestock at the moment – getting feed out to the stock and everything but it’s really hit all sectors.

“I’ve talked to families where everyone is out all day and night just trying to get feed out there.”

Pupils at several dozen schools in Bradford, Calderdale and Kirklees had another snow day yesterday as classes were called off.

Three-year-old Chloe Carter was making the most of the late winter in her garden in Meanwood, Leeds, as she took a ride on a snow elephant built by her father Roger.

Bookmaker Ladbrokes now has a white Easter as odds-on and is also offering 5/1 that next weekend will be the coldest Easter weekend ever.