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IT’S SNOW JOKE!
MILLIONS of
people on Merseyside have been affected by what the Met Office is
calling an “extreme weather event". Travel on many
roads in Southport and Formby has become very hazardous for both
pedestrians and motorists alike, due to lack of gritting. Liverpool
has also been badly affected, but more areas have been gritted. The
result of the longest, prolonged spell of cold weather in 30 years
has been flights from Manchester, Blackpool and Liverpool airports
grounded, schools closed and transport links, including ferry
services, disrupted. Andy Gower, Airport Director at LJLA, said on
Wednesday, 6 January 2010, that:- “The current conditions
remain a real challenge to all here at the airport, but the
commitment and effort from our staff over the past 24 hours, to keep
the airport open and to look after passengers caught up in the
disruption, has been fantastic.” And Merseytravel said on
Wednesday that:- “Due to the adverse weather conditions across
Merseyside, we have been allowing Merseyrail to accepted bus tickets
for equivalent journeys on train services on the Wirral and Northern
Lines, as bus services on Merseyside have been very limited on some
routes. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Other travel issues are being dealt with on an hourly review. The
proposed full closure for the Queensway Mersey Tunnel from 6 January
to 7 January 2010 was cancelled. The Queensway (Birkenhead) Mersey
Tunnel is operating as normal.” The arctic weather that
began before Christmas is set to continue into next week, and many
are warning of worse to come, as more of the major roads and rail
lines are brought to a standstill and power supplies are under
threat, as previously unaffected areas brace themselves. This will
have increasing impact on local services and deliveries. The Met
Office has issued a warning that the freezing conditions were
expected to continue for up to two more weeks. A meteorologist told
the press on 6 January, 2010, that:- "This weather warning is
very rare. We have not had many times when the UK has seen a period
of exceptionally heavy snowfall like this and we are just not set up
to deal with it. Some of us think that parts of the UK will see 15
to 30cm and perhaps in excess of 40cm of snow fall by the end of the
two weeks." The Prime Minister said:- "I think Britain
can deal with these problems. There are always difficulties when we
have a long spell of bad weather. But we can cope." The AA
president, Edmund King,
told the media that:-
"Councils should have acted sooner and more thoroughly. Some key
roads have not been gritted at all.” The AA has again,
criticised the way local councils have been allocated grit as have
other driving organisations and even Liverpool Council. “On
Wednesday, 6 January 2010, Liverpool Council said, that the extreme
weather conditions are hampering the supply of road grit to all
local authorities. We are expecting further supplies today. The
major road network was gritted last night, and gritters are working
round the clock tackling the worst affected main routes and danger
spots. Road maintenance and cleansing staff have been diverted to
clear ice and snow from priority pedestrian areas.” As of
yet Sefton MBC has declined to comment. The Highways Agency, which
is responsible for England's motorways and major A roads, told us
that:- "We will continue to treat the roads where freezing
temperatures and snow are forecast. All roads on the strategic road
network are open. Our winter fleet of around 500 salt-spreaders and
snowploughs has been working flat out treating motorways and major
'A' roads extensively yesterday, overnight and this morning. Drivers
are advised to take care around spreading vehicles and vehicles
clearing snow and only to overtake if they can do so safely, without
driving on uncleared snow. These vehicles are performing essential
work to help keep roads open and may be travelling at low speed.
However, even when roads have been treated, drivers should still
take care, especially on stretches where the local road layout or
landscape means there could be a greater risk of ice forming."
Across the UK, volunteer groups, like St John Ambulance and Mountain
Rescue, have been backing up the emergency services who have been
struggling to cope. In Southport, a volunteer crew of highly trained
specialists, with a specially equipped Ambulance from Southport’s St
John Ambulance, was sent out with other crews from Merseyside... St
John Ambulance, to back up and support the North West Ambulance
Service. Peter Watson, managing director at Business Link
Northwest says:- “The amount of snow fall has had a huge
effect on some businesses, such as ..."...
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