Snow hits West Midlands

Jan 5 2009 by Alison Dayani and Jasbir Authi

John Hawker, spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service, said: “The occupant of one car had sustained serious injuries and unfortunately, despite the best efforts of ambulance crews, he was confirmed dead at the scene.

“The occupants of the other vehicle were checked over at the scene by ambulance crews but did not require hospital treatment.”

In an earlier accident, a 21-year-old man from Lichfield died from his injuries in hospital after his black Citroen Saxo swerved off the A38 southbound carriageway at Barton under Needwood and crashed into a tree at 12.45am.

Paramedics alerted medics at Coventry’s Walsgrave Hospital to the 21-year-old patient, but the driver died soon after being admitted.

Following a third accident, the M5 was also closed in both directions in Worcestershire for more than four hours when a petrol tanker overturned between junctions 7 and 8 at Kempsey, near Worcester, at 8.20am yesterday causing traffic mayhem for motorists heading to and from Birmingham.

The chill also prompted water company Severn Trent to appeal to its eight million customers across the Midlands and Wales to protect their water systems, after receiving reports that pipes were freezing even with heating on full blast.

Kevin Hogg, a MET officer forecaster, said: “The temperatures dropped to -2C overnight and snow fell before it went back up slightly to zero.

“It will remain dry and clear and there will be some sunny spells throughout the day, with temperatures remaining around 2C.

“Tonight will be the coldest night of the week with temperatures falling as low as -5C in places and -8C in the countryside.

“It should be cold and sunny tomorrow and Wednesday will be sleety too as more snow is expected to fall.

“It will be cold and dry for the rest of the week with the temperatures not rising above -2C everyday.”