Snow and freezing temperature to last another week in Birmingham
Last week’s snowfalls meant thousands of youngsters stayed at home as councils, including Birmingham, Solihull and Dudley, issued blanket school closures.
Many local authorities also halted refuse collections and watched nervously as salt supplies ran low, while gritting lorries worked round the clock in a bid to keep roads clear.
Birmingham City Council is expecting a delivery of 3,000 tonnes of grit. Yet other authorities, including Warwickshire and Worcestershire County Councils, said they would have to limit the number of roads gritted because of shortages.
Meanwhile, a container ship is reportedly sailing to Britain from Spain with 40,000 tonnes of salt and more emergency deliveries are aboard a vessel from Germany. Both are expected to arrive on Wednesday.
The snowfalls on Monday and Thursday brought large parts of Birmingham and the West Midlands to a virtual standstill.
Solihull-based Land Rover made 12 of its 4x4 vehicles available to West Midlands Ambulance to allow paramedics to navigate the most difficult roads.
Bus services were also affected, with some outlying routes cancelled during the worst of the snowfalls which also saw Birmingham International Airport closed and Wolverhampton Racecourse abandoned.
