How did the snow affect the south west of the UK?

General impacts on the south west

Social

Economic

Environmental

Key

Plymouth received less than 1mm of snow, with none recorded in parts of

the city

More than 200 cars and lorries were trapped overnight on Haldon Hill and

Telegraph Hill, south of Exeter.

North Devon District NHS Trust cancelled all outpatient clinics

An emergency relief centre was set up at Exeter Racecourse for people

stuck on Haldon Hill

The Army was called in to pick up about 60 people stuck near

Tavistock.

Some people living near Exeter spent 12 hours without any

electricity, after the weight of snow pulled power lines down.

A couple were stuck for 12 hours in an upturned car which was stuck in a

ditch near Camelford in Cornwall. Police had spent 6 hours in a helicopter looking for them.

There were some minor road accidents in Teignmouth, Dawlish and Newton Abbot as car brakes

didn’t work with all the ice about. Luckily nobody was badly hurt.

Bus services did not run in Bristol, South Gloucestershire, Bath and

North Somerset.

Okehampton had 55cm of snow Many roads in Mid Glamorgan were closed.

Cardiff airport managed to remain open

There were traffic jams up on Dartmoor as everyone tried to get

up there and enjoy the snow.

A woman went into labour in North Tawton near Okehampton and had

to be rescued by fire engines as ambulances could not reach her.

She eventually gave birth to healthy twins in Okehampton hospital

Exeter airport didn’t open until 0830am. It had taken 3 snow

ploughs to clear the runway. Many business people had been unable to

fly into Exeter for meetings.

Exeter had 10cm of snow The M5 southbound near Exeter was shut because of the heavy snow

8,000 homes in the Taunton area were also without electricity.

Flights at Bristol airport were closed until 4pm on Friday afternoon.

Some councils are running out of salt to put on the roads (the salt makes

the snow melt and stops ice forming)

The Severn Bridge between Bristol and Wales had to close because ice

was falling from the bridge onto cars below.

More than 800 schools across the South West were shut.

More than 300 schools were closed in southern Wales.