Schools hope to open as more snow forecast (From Bucks Free Press)

Schools hope to open as more snow forecast in High Wycombe and Buckinghamshire

6:32am Friday 8th January 2010 in News

Bucks looks to recover in cold weather

This story will be updated throughout the day. Check back for updates.

SCHOOLS in the county hope to re-open next week after no snow was reported overnight - but more is on the way.

Schools:

Several schools remain closed today due to the icy conditions on the roads and pavements. Click the link at the bottom of this story to see comments from schools.

Snowy intervals are forecast by the Met Office from today until Monday (see links).

The Met Office told the Bucks Free Press today that “up to 5cm of snow” will fall on Sunday.

While a cold north-easterly wind will drop the temperature to around minus seven degrees over the weekend.

Some have opened today to allow students the chance to come in and collect work, but no lessons will be going ahead.

A Senior Prizegiving ceremony at Chesham High School scheduled to take place this evening has been postponed.

To see the list of school closures, click the link at the bottom of this story.

Great Kingshill Church Of England Combined School in Cryers Road has been open all this week.

Headteacher Gillian Harrington said: "Some of our members of staff are quite local. Others have got the bus. Some have sledged in."

How have you been affected? Leave your comments below or email bfpnews@london.newsquest.co.uk.

Click the link at the bottom of this story to read and contribute to our live snow blog. Ask questions, tell people information or just get something off your chest. On Twitter? Add #bfp to your tweets to feature.

Although no snowfall was reported, freezing overnight temperatures are causing problems on iced-up pavements and roads.

Transport:

5.20pm – Buckinghamshire County Council says gritting teams will work through the weekends to “keep roads passable”.

It said roads were treated last night and today. Grit bins were being filled and grit was being put down in “town/ village centre areas”.

Some pot holes have temporarily filled.

A statement: “Towed spreaders are being used to help break up ice and to give residents a pathway on untreated estate roads.”

Valerie Letheren, cabinet member for transportation, said: "We are still facing freezing temperatures with the possibility of snow later in the weekend.

“The teams will continue to work through the weekend to keep our key routes as operational as possible.

“Please can I remind drivers to take extra care and think about the necessity of their journey.

“We will be keeping a close eye on the weather forecast and treating the network in the best way possible.”

9.55am - an accident on the West Wycombe Road is causing problems. 11.30pm - this has now been cleared.

Thursday - Buckinhamshire County Council last night said it has enough grit and salt “to deal with the anticipated weather over the next two to five days”.

It said it is continuing to salt emergency routes because of “national uncertainty about salt supplies”. It says: “Deliveries are awaited.”

It said gritters will be out to major routes from 4am where salt, which is more effective, will be used.

Secondary roads and footpaths will be treated in the day with grit. It is hoped this will conserve salt supplies.

The statement said: “They will also continue to keep grit bins in towns and villages topped up.”

This will continue over the weekeend. The council said its salt barns were full but “the severity of the weather has drawn on supplies much more quickly than planned”.

Mark Averill, network operations manager for Transport for Buckinghamshire, the council’s transport arm, said: “We're awaiting fresh deliveries but there is uncertainty across the country about salt supplies, which is why we've taken measures to conserve our supplies.”

Councillor Valerie Letheren, cabinet member for transportation, said: “Our gritting teams have been working in the teeth of the bad weather, turning out at all hours in their endeavours to beat the snow, and at times putting themselves at some risk to serve the public.

“But we can only do what we can do - people have to adapt and temper their expectations.

“We have successfully kept all main routes open, and the secondary routes accessible wherever possible, throughout a prolonged period of extreme weather - the worst in 30 years.

“We managed this only by judicious and prudent use of salt supplies and by sticking to our winter maintenance programme.”

5.15pm - A poll on our live snow blog found 77 per cent of people thought roads had not been gritted enough. A further 19 per cent thought they had and four per cent did not know.

A path to the county council's offices in Easton Street, High Wycombe, was cleared to allow the Social Services emergency response team to get in and out.

Weddings at the registrars' office are also able to go ahead as planned after the car park in front of the offices was cleared of snow.

Click the link at the bottom of this story for details of transport changes.

Few problems have been reported on the county’s roads today, with drivers being told to avoid Plomer Hill in Downley as it is reportedly blocked due to abandoned vehicles.

NHS:

5.30pm – Wycombe Hospital bosses say they have seen an increase in A&E attendances including those with chest infections and who have suffered a fall.

Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust spokesman Lee Jones said: “The trust has been able to put on extra operating lists to manage this increase, meaning that our patients are treated as quickly as possible.

“We would like to thank our dedicated staff for their continued hard work during this time.

“The public are also reminded that they should only access emergency services in a genuine accident or emergency situation.”

2pm -Ambulance bosses say they have seen a ‘massive increase’ in calls as people suffer slips, trips and falls.

There were 602 calls in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, of which 168 were for pedestrians falling.

South Central Ambulance Service urged residents to call 999 only for a “serious medical emergency”.

These are conditions such as a heart attack, severe loss of blood, difficulty in breathing or a serious accident.

Residents are urged to call NHS Direct at any time on 0845 46 47 or see their GP.

It adds: “When a Road Traffic Collision occurs we can receive over 10 calls for the same incident.

“Where several people are involved, or where there are several witnesses to an accident, or other serious injury, please nominate one individual to call 999 whenever practical.

“Please be as accurate as possible when giving us the location – local landmarks are especially useful to us in pin pointing your position.”

Other:

Chiltern District Council is making some rubbish collections today and tomorrow, with collections also taking place in the South Bucks District today.

They are due to return to normal next week.

3.40pm - Thames Valley Water says: "The cold weather has doubled the number of burst water pipes across London and the Thames Valley.

"At this time of year Thames Water would normally expect to have a backlog of 200 leaks to fix but the current list is 400."

Jerry White, head of operational control for Thames Water, said: "We're busy but we’re totally prepared for this and we've got the manpower and resources to tackle the increased workload."

Icy roads were delaying drivers, he said. "Please bear with us, we're doing our best."

People are urged to report leaks on 0800 714 614 and check its website to see if it looking at the leak already.

Cancelled events:

Meanwhile, Wycombe Wanderers and Wasps should still be able to play their scheduled matches this weekend.

Wanderers' opponents Leeds United say the game will go ahead unless there is heavy snowfall in Yorkshire overnight.

It is one of only two League One matches still on, with Norwich City's game with Exeter City the only other fixture not to have been postponed.

Wasps' Guinness Premiership match at Leicester Tigers has been brought forward to 3.15pm, after originally being scheduled for 5.30pm.

It will be shown on Sky Sports if it goes ahead.