Snow hits schools and transport

Feb 3 2009

Hundreds of schools across the country have been closed for a second day as the wintry weather continues.

Places as far apart as Bradford, Birmingham and Surrey were all affected - with local authorities in all three areas deciding to close their schools.

Chief executive of Bradford Council, Tony Reeves, said the decision to close the city's schools was taken on Monday because of the "very severe weather forecast".

He said: "This decision has not been taken lightly, but it is in the best interests of both children and parents to ensure their safety and to allow parents to make child care arrangements, including informing their employers where necessary. It is schools being closed at short notice which causes most disruption to residents and the economy."

All schools in Birmingham and Solihull were closed and a notice on Surrey County Council's website stated it had advised all 403 schools in the county to close. Closures also continued for a second day in London.

Meanwhile, air passengers have continued to face delays after the planes they were due to board were diverted because of the extreme weather.

A British Airways (BA) spokesman said: "We're doing all we can. We're offering refunds or rebooking customers and 2,500 hotel rooms were booked for people stuck.

"Every airline operating from Heathrow will have some disruption. We're very dependent on what happens with the weather and with heavy weather forecast it puts us in a very difficult position."

Train operators have predicted services will start to recover as the heavy snow moves away from the South East.

Maintenance teams equipped with ice breakers and snow ploughs worked through the night in a bid to get the crippled rail network working again. Snow ploughs have been made ready in the Pennines, Yorkshire and Northumberland, amid fears those areas would suffer from the extreme weather.