Ice and snow bring more chaos

Heavy snowfalls took many commuters by surprise

Wales was bracing itself for another night in sub-zero temperatures on Friday, and weather-watchers were warning there would be no let-up for several days.

As roadsides became littered with crashed and abandoned vehicles, police reinforced their warnings motorists to stay home unless their journeys were absolutely necessary.

Pembrokeshire County Council and Dyfed Powys police had to stop lorries from travelling on the A40 between Fishguard and Whitland on Friday night while lorries thoroughly gritted the road in preparation for overnight ice.

The coldest place on Friday was Sennybridge, near Brecon, where temperatures fell to -11C, and the Met Office has warned that temperatures could hover around - 7C over the weekend.

And similar temperatures will affect most parts until early next week.

So far, Wales - like many other parts of the UK - has suffered two days of serious disruption because of the weather.

Hundreds of schools closed by mid afternoon on Thursday and many remained shut on Friday. Shops and factories sent their staff home before the worst of the weather, and roads became gridlocked as commuters decided to head off early. s.

There were more heavy snowfalls on Friday - particularly in parts of Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Powys.

Main roads in the counties have been kept open thanks to local authorities sending out gritters, but side roads and routes in outlying areas were impassable in many cases.

Motorists were urged to take extra care

At Ffair Rhos in Ceredigion, an operation was launched to reach an elderly woman who had suffered a fall her remote farm.

The accident happened on Thursday night, but paramedics could not get up the lane to the farm to reach her.

She was eventually carried through the snow in a chair for a quarter of a mile to an ambulance.

Many parts of north Wales were still under a blanket of snow on Friday.

Police in Wrexham were snowed in at their stations for two hours and told to deal only with emergencies.

In south Wales, a RAF helicopter was scrambled from RAF Valley to fly a seriously ill woman from Aberystwyth to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.

The woman was due to be transported by ambulance, but the RAF was called to assist due to treacherous road conditions.

Many vehicles had to be abandoned by the roadside

She was taken to hospital safely, but on the helicopter's return to Aberystwyth it ran into difficulties.

Squadron leader Rick Phillips from RAF Kinloss said: "They (the crew) were able to get to Cardiff," he said, "but when they got half way back to Aberystwyth they just ran into snow where it was unsafe to continue.

"They turned round and the crew are now resting in a Cardiff hotel."

The weather has also caused problems for farmers at the beginning of the lambing season.

Daphne Tilley, a shepherd from Llansannan on the Denbigh Moors, said the snow had speeded up deliveries in some ewes.

"Sheep can get stressed and that can bring on labour," she said.

"We've had 14 sets of twins and two sets of triplets born this morning plus a couple of singles in an hour and 10 minutes.

"The snow is quite deep and people are having real trouble. It's twice as much work.

The Met Office warned that icy conditions were likely to continue until the weekend.

"There will be localised drifting and blizzard conditions in upland areas," said a spokesman.

"Roads are likely to become icy in areas affected by the snow, giving some dangerous driving conditions, and motorists are advised to avoid driving in upland areas if possible."

Claire Price from the AA told BBC Wales that if people did decide to drive they needed to take things slowly.

"Obviously you need to keep your speeds down and drive to the weather conditions as you see them in front of you," she said.

"If there is embedded ice on the road you will have some road spin. If it's really bad and you can't move it's always good to have an old sack or something underneath just to get some traction going on the wheels.

"But when you're on your own it's not easy if you're skidding about," she added.

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