Blizzards confirm start of spring

Mar 23 2008 by Ian Robson, Sunday Sun

IT was a white-out for many parts of the North yesterday with heavy snowfalls bringing a winter wonderland to the start of spring.

Snow and wind gave the region an Arctic feel as the earliest Easter for almost a century was marked by a cold snap.

Traffic was brought to a standstill and coastguards warned walkers to keep off beaches.

But the hardy folk of the North made the best of it by putting on their wellies and woolly hats as the snow fell.

A heavy fall at Sutton Bank, North Yorkshire, prompted visitor James Elliott, from Pembrokeshire, to build a huge snowman bigger than himself.

And ramblers trudged through snow drifts and blizzards as they refused to be beaten.

The North East and Scotland got the worst of the weather with forecasters predicting more on the way last night and today.

Forecaster Tony Conlan, of MeteoGroup — the weather division of the Press Association — said the bad weather was likely to affect a larger part of the country over the weekend.

Temperatures yesterday were between 1C and 4C.

He said: “This is well below the seasonal average of between 7C and 11C.”

The snow added to problems on the roads already experiencing high levels of traffic for the four-day holiday.

The A66 at Bowes, County Durham, was closed due to heavy snow.

A police spokesman said a number of HGVs had got stuck in the snow on Friday and had blocked the road on the Cumbrian side of the border.

Moderate snow fell on high-lying areas of County Durham, particularly the Consett area and the A68, while the rest of the region was hit by many short but heavy snow and hail storms.

Bookmakers William Hill said they were preparing to pay out £10,000 to successful punters who bet on a white Easter in London at odds of 8-1.

The weather caused problems for officials at Middlesbrough’s match against Derby County.

Fans with seats in the Riverside Stadium’s South Stand were moved to other areas of the stadium after it suffered overnight weather damage.

In Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, a cordon was set up after scaffolding collapsed near a hotel.

Some vehicles were damaged and council engineers and contractors were sent to assess the situation.