PARTS of Cheshire were carpeted with snow and residents braced themselves for severe disruption as winter finally arrived yesterday.

While four centimetres fell on the Wirral and 300 schools were closed in Wales - Cheshire suffered light snowf all.

However Chester was one of the coldest cities in the UK on Tuesday night with the temperature plummeting to -8°C and the Met Office has predicted that the county will be hit by further snowstorms this weekend.

The snow created some picture perfect scenes around the area but the hard work of the County Council, who toiled throughout Thursday morning, meant that all major roads were salted and gritted.

Spokesman for Cheshire County Council, Ian Callister, said: 'All primary and secondary roads were pre-salted by county engineers who worked through the night.

'We had 33 gritters working across the county and the snow ploughs were on stand by but were not needed in the end as the snow was not as heavy as first predicted.

'No schools in Chester or the surrounding areas have been closed at this time.'

The police issued the silver command on Wednesday night but this was terminated by late morning T hursday.

Fire Service watch manager Anthony Jones added: 'We called off all community visits to fit smoke detectors as we wanted to be able to react to any emergencies should they come in.'

* The Met Office urges everyone to check forecast before they attempt any long journeys. They can be contacted on 01392 886655 or the website www.metoffice.gov.uk.