The coldest winter for 100 years - so where are the gritters
BRITAIN ground to an icy halt today as the nation’s gritters again failed to keep roads clear – costing the economy billions.
The big freeze saw more than half of Britons arrive late for work, and millions more stayed at home as road, rail and air networks were paralysed.
With more than 10 inches of snow in some parts and a further eight inches set to fall overnight, forecasters are predicting the worst winter for 100 years.
A woman and her baby make their way through trees covered by overnight snow in Hampshire
Motoring organisations criticised the inability to get the nation moving and experts estimated the chaos could cost £1.2billion a day.
The sorry picture on the roads was replicated across the rail network and Gatwick and Edinburgh airports also remained closed with hundreds of flights cancelled.
A snow plough attempts to clear the runway at Gatwick Airport
The catastrophic failure of the authorities to deal with a snow fall that had been widely and accurately forecast came after Transport Secretary Philip Hammond promised last week that there was a “strategic stockpile” of grit.
Gardai help motorists deal with icy roads along North Strand in central Dublin
“I think we’ll be able to cope. I am pretty confident we’ll be OK,” he said.
But for drivers stuck in miles of gridlocked traffic or forced to abandon their cars, his boast had a hollow ring.
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond was urged to “get a grip” today as the nation faced yet more travel disruption from the big freeze.
Stocks in Scotland's supermarkets run low as lorries fail to get to their destinations
With passengers forced to sleep at stations, stuck overnight in freezing trains and trapped in their cars, shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle asked why the findings of a previous review into snow chaos had not been implemented.
The current problems were costing the economy up to £1.2 billion a day, Ms Eagle added during Commons question time.
But Mr Hammond said Ms Eagle was “failing to recognise the scale of the weather event” currently gripping the UK and that high volumes of snow coupled with low temperatures would always cause disruption to the transport system.
The Transport Secretary has ordered an urgent review of how Britain’s transport systems have performed in the latest bout of winter weather.
Food stores are also battling to keep their shelves filled with bread and milk as the severe weather hits deliveries and encourages shoppers to stock up.
A woman skis around as snow falls across Britain
Asda said shoppers had been stocking up on practical items to keep the cold at bay - with an 83% rise in sales of thermal underwear over the last few days.
Hot water bottles have also seen a surge in popularity.
A spokeswoman said: “Salt and shovels are flying off the shelves too as people purchase practical items to cope with the weather.
“We’ve sold around 100,000 units of de-icer in the last couple of days, that’s equal to one every two seconds.”
When it comes to food, consumers have been filling their trolleys with warming items such as soup and porridge.
Children enjoy the snow in Glasgow
Last night, a rattled Mr Hammond said he had ordered an inquiry.
He said: “In October David Quarmby (chairman of the RAC Foundation) published a review with a series of recommendations which we and transport operators agreed to act on.
Firefighters cut the roof off a vechicle on the A689 near Bishop Auckland, County Durham
“Given that much of the country is being hit unusually early by severe weather, I have asked David Quarmby to conduct an urgent audit of highway authorities’ and transport operators’ performance in England and any further steps that need to be taken.
“There are lessons to be learned and it is important that we learn those now.”
Motoring groups were furious at the chaos.
Edmund King, president of the AA, said: “We might have more salt than last year but we need better planning to allow gritters through blocked roads. But again we hear that farmers offering to use tractors as snow ploughs were prevented from doing so as the insurance had not come through.
A man walks a dog through woods in Stanley Common Village, Derbyshire
“In the 21st century, we should not have people stuck on the motorway all night or stranded on trains. We need better plans to prevent people continuing to join motorways once they are gridlocked.”
The chaos even hit the Forth Road Bridge in Scotland, which closed for the first time since it opened in 1964.
The gridlock is estimated to be costing Britain £1.2billion a day, according to insurers RSA.
Snow at Kew Gardens
David Greaves, RSA director, said: “Bad weather in the run-up to Christmas will have a major impact on the economy and could lead to losses for already struggling businesses.”
He added: “If we lose just one fifth of our daily GDP through companies not being able to open and people cancelling spending plans, we’re looking at about £1.2billion every working day.
“If the weather continues for the next two weeks, as the Met Office is predicting, this figure will spiral to more than £12billion.”
