Forecasters warn of more snow for the North

Jan 1 2010 by Robert Weatherall, The Journal

FORECASTERS warned there will be more misery as the cold snap continues well into 2010.

Freezing overnight temperatures combined with more snow will make roads slippery once more – and there is little sign of improvement over the weekend. The poor conditions mean that there could be traffic chaos next week when people return to work from their Christmas and New Year break.

It was a wintry start to the New Year in Northumberland last night as the county was affected by heavy snowfall while bin collection services in parts of County Durham were suspended.

Met Office officials said there would be more sleet or snow showers today which could be sustained over exposed areas. The warning comes as December was confirmed as being the coldest in more than a decade.

Stephen Davenport, meteorologist for MeteoGroup, said: “This December has been the coldest we’ve experienced for 13 years. It started off pretty mild early on in the month but turned very cold after the first couple of weeks with the third week particularly cold and snowy. It is going to stay cold for the next week.”

Officials at Durham County Council pulled its fleet of bin lorries off the roads in Derwentside following fears conditions were becoming too treacherous.

Oliver Sherratt, head of direct services at Durham County Council, said: “We recognise that this may cause inconvenience to householders but in the interests of safety we have been forced to suspend refuse collections in the Derwentside area.

“We are intending to get out to empty people’s waste and recycling bins on Monday instead, weather permitting. For those households that have been missed we will, as a one-off, collect additional bags of rubbish on Monday, which people should leave next to their bin.”

Despite the poor weather Highways Agency officials said they had not seen any significant problems on the roads.

A spokesman said: “So far the network is performing very well with no problems reported on motorways and trunk roads.”

It was a similar picture on the railways with 94% of trains arriving at their destinations on time. Sunday is expected to be the busiest day of the holiday period as millions return home in preparation for the first working week of 2010.