Second day of snow in UK, disruption continues

Monday, December 21, 2009

A second day of winter weather and snow has caused further disruption in the UK.

At 15:13 GMT last Saturday, one Wikinews contributor in West Lothian described the conditions there as 'white-out', although later conditions were reported to have improved.

Forecasters had indicated further snow in Scotland later into Saturday evening, with some higher ground experiencing as much as 15 centimetres into Sunday. Heavy snow for parts of Northern England had also been forecast.

In South of England the wintry weather has also affected cross channel services, with Operation Stack being brought into effect due to issues at the Port of Calais. Eurostar and Channel tunnel services were also disrupted for an extended period, when trains broke down temporarily stranding at least 2000 passengers according to both BBC and Guardian reports. The cause is still under investigation, but it has been suggested, temperatures changes on entering the Channel tunnel may have been responsible.

Traffic around both Dover and Folkstone was reported as heavy, with Chief Superintendent Matthew Nix(Kent police) making an appeal for "[...] everyone to consider whether their journey is really necessary. Because of the problems with the Channel Tunnel and the Port of Calais, it will take a considerable time to clear the backlog [...]"

In addition to transport disruption, a number of sports have been affected. At least twenty football fixtures across the UK have been postponed, with some rugby matches also affected. Race meetings at Haydock, Newcastle were cancelled due to the conditions, a planned meet at Ascot having been abandoned earlier. A National Hunt meeting at Carlisle yesterday was also abandoned.

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Sources

"Snow causes second day of disruption" — BBC News, December 19, 2009
David Batty and agencies. "Four Eurostar trains stuck in Channel tunnel" — The Guardian, December 19, 2009
"Scotland braced for heavy snowfall as temperatures plummet" — Daily Record, December 19, 2009
"Winter weather hits sporting weekend" — BBC Sport, December 19, 2009
"Carlise Racecourse Events section" — December 19, 2009

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