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Southport and  Mersey Reporter -  Your free online newspaper service covering the Merseyside region - (Greater Liverpool).
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MERSEY REPORTER

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Updated over every Wednesday night... Publish online only once a week.

Issue:- 06/07 January 2010

IT’S SNOW JOKE!

MILLIONS of people on Merseyside have been affected by what the Met Office is calling an “extreme weather event". Travel on many roads in Southport and Formby has become very hazardous for both pedestrians and motorists alike, due to lack of gritting. Liverpool has also been badly affected, but more areas have been gritted. The result of the longest, prolonged spell of cold weather in 30 years has been flights from Manchester, Blackpool and Liverpool airports grounded, schools closed and transport links, including ferry services, disrupted. Andy Gower, Airport Director at LJLA, said on Wednesday, 6 January 2010, that:- “The current conditions remain a real challenge to all here at the airport, but the commitment and effort from our staff over the past 24 hours, to keep the airport open and to look after passengers caught up in the disruption, has been fantastic.” And Merseytravel said on Wednesday that:- “Due to the adverse weather conditions across Merseyside, we have been allowing Merseyrail to accepted bus tickets for equivalent journeys on train services on the Wirral and Northern Lines, as bus services on Merseyside have been very limited on some routes. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. Other travel issues are being dealt with on an hourly review. The proposed full closure for the Queensway Mersey Tunnel from 6 January to 7 January 2010 was cancelled. The Queensway (Birkenhead) Mersey Tunnel is operating as normal.” The arctic weather that began before Christmas is set to continue into next week, and many are warning of worse to come, as more of the major roads and rail lines are brought to a standstill and power supplies are under threat, as previously unaffected areas brace themselves. This will have increasing impact on local services and deliveries. The Met Office has issued a warning that the freezing conditions were expected to continue for up to two more weeks. A meteorologist told the press on 6 January, 2010, that:- "This weather warning is very rare. We have not had many times when the UK has seen a period of exceptionally heavy snowfall like this and we are just not set up to deal with it. Some of us think that parts of the UK will see 15 to 30cm and perhaps in excess of 40cm of snow fall by the end of the two weeks." The Prime Minister said:- "I think Britain can deal with these problems. There are always difficulties when we have a long spell of bad weather. But we can cope." The AA president, Edmund King, told the media that:- "Councils should have acted sooner and more thoroughly. Some key roads have not been gritted at all.” The AA has again, criticised the way local councils have been allocated grit as have other driving organisations and even Liverpool Council. “On Wednesday, 6 January 2010, Liverpool Council said, that the extreme weather conditions are hampering the supply of road grit to all local authorities. We are expecting further supplies today. The major road network was gritted last night, and gritters are working round the clock tackling the worst affected main routes and danger spots. Road maintenance and cleansing staff have been diverted to clear ice and snow from priority pedestrian areas.” As of yet Sefton MBC has declined to comment. The Highways Agency, which is responsible for England's motorways and major A roads, told us that:- "We will continue to treat the roads where freezing temperatures and snow are forecast. All roads on the strategic road network are open. Our winter fleet of around 500 salt-spreaders and snowploughs has been working flat out treating motorways and major 'A' roads extensively yesterday, overnight and this morning. Drivers are advised to take care around spreading vehicles and vehicles clearing snow and only to overtake if they can do so safely, without driving on uncleared snow. These vehicles are performing essential work to help keep roads open and may be travelling at low speed. However, even when roads have been treated, drivers should still take care, especially on stretches where the local road layout or landscape means there could be a greater risk of ice forming." Across the UK, volunteer groups, like St John Ambulance and Mountain Rescue, have been backing up the emergency services who have been struggling to cope. In Southport, a volunteer crew of highly trained specialists, with a specially equipped Ambulance from Southport’s St John Ambulance, was sent out with other crews from Merseyside... St John Ambulance, to back up and support the North West Ambulance Service.  Peter Watson, managing director at Business Link Northwest says:- “The amount of snow fall has had a huge effect on some businesses, such as ..."... ...continued...

 

Click on to read on...

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 ...continued... ..."...preventing people from getting to work, or stopping essential supplies and produce getting to their destinations. It is times like these where the importance of contingency planning really comes to light. Businesses can visit the Business Link website where they can access interactive tools that will help assess and minimise the risks to their business caused by natural disasters such as flooding and the excessive snowfall we’re experiencing. Or they can speak to a local Business Link adviser for information about creating a contingency plan that suits them.” For travel check:- merseytravel.gov.uk  for regular updates on buses and trains. For up-to-date information on road conditions on England's motorways and trunk roads, drivers should check the Highways Agency website  or call:- 08457 504030. Also our merseyreporter.com site as it also has up-to-date traffic information on it. For information on weather conditions, visit the Met Office website  or listen to local radio and also go to:- merseyreporter.com.

To see our photographic coverage of Formby and Southport in the snow, CLICK ON HERE now!
 

This weeks news in pictures

2009 Ends and 2010 begins - Our photograpic coverage in and around Southport & Formby... Snow Pictures. Hilton Liverpool gets all hot - hot - hot!

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