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MILLIONS FACE ARCTIC EASTER

Battered: 70 mph wind whip up towering seas

Saturday March 22,2008

By Polly Buchanan

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(8)

BRITAIN was last night braced for its worst Easter weather in 25 years, with heavy snow and high winds set to cause misery for millions.

The Met Office issued a severe weather warning, with up to 5in of snow expected to carpet parts of the country – splitting east from west.

Blizzards whipped up by 70mph gusts threaten to ruin the holiday weekend for many and could also hit a busy sports schedule. Sub-zero overnight temperatures will struggle into single figures during today as the biting Arctic winds make it feel bitterly cold.

While the North is set to bear the brunt of the storm, the foul weather will spread south today across the whole country, with only the tip of South Wales and Cornwall escaping the full force.

Police predicted horrendous driving conditions over the coming days, with maintenance work on major roads compounding problems for motorists.

Drivers were urged to travel only if necessary during what is usually one of the busiest times of the year.

Added to this, the rail network has been left crippled by engineering works on some main routes.

And staff were warned that their return to work after the Easter break could be even worse, with the bad weather lasting into next week.

Last night an army of 400 gritters was put to work on the roads as temperatures were forecast to tumble to minus 8C and snow began falling down the spine of the country from northern Scotland, through the Pennines and into the South-east corner of England.

The Highways Agency also had a fleet of 400 snow-ploughs on standby. The RAC warned drivers to avoid the A1M, the M6, M62, A17, A16, A46 and more exposed trunk routes like the A69 – all roads set to be blighted by snow.

The Environment Agency last night had six flood warnings – four in the North-east – and 15 flood watches in place as huge waves battered the coast.

A spokesman said the combination of high spring tides and gusting winds in the North-east and East Anglia was causing concern. In London, the Thames Barrier was raised as a precaution.

High winds and heavy rain forced the cancellation of yesterday’s Gatcombe Horse Trials, held at the Princess Royal’s Minchinhampton estate in Gloucestershire, as organisers complained the ground was “under water” when they arrived.

A Met Office spokesman said: “Anywhere could be hit by wintry snow showers, but it’s going to hit the coastal areas in the East hardest. Higher ground can expect up to 5in but even lower ground could see up to 2in. London and Kent may well get snow.

“The heaviest snow will fall late on Saturday night and Sunday morning, but this continuing snow band will linger all through Monday and even into Tuesday morning.”

The bad weather could wreck a high-profile weekend of sport, with seven race meetings and a full Championship football programme scheduled for Easter Monday.

The Arctic blast will only add to problems on the rail network caused by 30 different sets of engineering works.

Thousands of travellers were left shivering in stations yesterday as timetables on some routes were slashed to one train per hour.

With severe delays on the railways, people are set to take to the roads instead, compounding fears of gridlock on Easter Monday as millions of motorists battle to make their way home.

The AA warned that traffic on Easter Monday was expected to be 10 per cent heavier than normal, while the RAC said it was bracing itself to receive a record number of call-outs.

An RAC spokesman said: “We’re also expecting a record number of call-outs on Tuesday morning as cars that have sat idle for four days are affected by the moisture in the air from the poor weather.”

But Network Rail’s deputy chief executive Iain Coucher said the group had “learned our lesson” and promised there would be no repeat of the New Year chaos when engineering work over-ran and led to the company being fined a record £14million.

Some hardy trippers went to the coast yesterday despite the chill.

But the scenes were a far cry from last Easter when thousands of people sunbathed in temperatures of 20C. At Weymouth, Dorset, one family even had a picnic on the beach. Ruth and Randy Carter and their uncle Shaun Thorpe were wrapped up under an eiderdown and wearing woolly hats.

Ruth, from Cardiff, said: “Last Easter was warm and sunny but this time we have the beach to ourselves.”

Those not hardy enough to face the icy winds turned to comfort eating, as sales of stodgy food shot up.

A poll by Tesco found soup sales up 22 per cent compared with this time last week, with pie sales up 15 per cent, toad in the hole 18 per cent and curries 16 per cent.

The heaviest snow will fall late on Saturday night and Sunday morning

A Met Office spokesman

ROTHAYMERE,GET REAL

23.03.08, 12:06pm

It's all part of a natural cycle.
The river Thames was frozen solid in the middle ages and believe me,the only man made pollution then was a few twigs on fire to cook the odd dead rat.
Truth is,our naturally opportunistic,lying,thieving labour hogs,have turned it into a nice little earner.
People such as yourself are aiding and abetting this monumental scam,just don't try to force YOUR opinions on the rest of us,who know better.
Okay?

• Posted by: thewarlord • Report Comment

YOU WILL HAVE TO FORGIVE US ALL

23.03.08, 11:58am

For not believing a single word that comes out of any lying Scumbag labour orifice.
It' just the way we are ,after eleven years of mis-information,fabrication,ommission and down-right bare-faced lies.
Have a nice day.

• Posted by: thewarlord • Report Comment

ROTHAYMERE

23.03.08, 12:33am

you just cant reason with some people,

• Posted by: supernova • Report Comment

GREAT FUN MOVIE BAD SCIENCE

22.03.08, 10:02pm

Not even the most enthusiastic global warming alarmist would use the movie "Day After Tomorrow" to support their alarmist claims. I loved the movie, but the science was dreadful, and "sexed up" to make a more exciting film; it's hardly alone in that respect of course.

It's a bit chilly tonight out here on my patio - we've got the heaters on full!. We're celebrating the 2007 United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report; specifically the part that says that Antarctica is cooling.

• Posted by: IvanMorgan • Report Comment

NALIN, IT'S OBVIOUS THAT YOU, TOO, KNOW NOTHING ABOUT WHAT GLOBAL "WARMING" GENERATES

22.03.08, 9:12pm

Fact is you know nothing about global warming but have your say nevertheless.

The word "warming" is deceptive. So here's a little precis for you to think about when you look at snow and ice and blizzard and pooh pooh global "warming." Global warming produces EXTREMES IN CLIMATE - meaning very hot or very cold, get it?

The movie The Day After Tomorrow, is loosely based on the theory of “abrupt climate change.” As a result of global warming, the Gulf Stream (part of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation) shuts down. The North Atlantic region starts to cool while heat builds up in the tropics. The result is a severe storm, the likes of which have never been seen, and a dramatic change in the global climate.

Get it? One part of the globe heats up and another cools down. Heat and Cold. All due to global "warming." Duh, read up please!

• Posted by: Rothaymere • Report Comment

ARTIC EASTERS

22.03.08, 5:55pm

no matter how you dress it up man will never control the weather and global warming is an invention to squeeze money out of the people.labour are laughing all the way to the bank ,in the north of the country its not realy changed a great deal marginal differences in snow fall ,stormy weather etc , the south has always been warmer and i can remember that we always had heavy rains and thunder and lightning even in july ,aug ,and some chilly days .air quality is much better but the problems we face is we have over populated some counties with extra burdon on drainage and drought ,it stands to reason that if you build on flood plains sometimes you will get your feet wet ,

• Posted by: crazyhorse • Report Comment