Weather update Sunday evening

Council bosses pay tribute to their teams

The Leader and Chief Executive of Denbighshire County Council have paid tribute to the Council's teams of staff for their tireless efforts in dealing with the wintry conditions.


Leader of the Council, Councillor Hugh Evans OBE, said: "Teams have battled the elements, often working in atrocious conditions to try and keep the county's roads open. It's certainly a long time since we've experienced such severe snowfall and many communities were affected over the weekend, in particular in the south of the county.


"The strong winds caused major drifting and the Council's teams, working with local contractors have worked around the clock to try and clear these roads. I really commend their efforts."

Chief Executive, Mohammed Mehmet, said: "I am very proud of the efforts of staff who have worked in terrible conditions to try and keep us safe. It has been a really testing time and my thanks go to all the teams and contractors that have worked together on the ground but also to colleagues in many other departments that have rallied together to assist with the efforts.


"They have dealt with numerous enquiries over recent days and have made every effort to ensure that the best possible levels of service have been maintained and that residents have been kept informed.

"The Council has also worked closely with colleagues from a number of other agencies to respond to this on-going situation and we will continue to deploy our resources to get the situation back to normal as quickly as possible.

"We would also like to thank the public for their understanding. We ha ve seen examples of where communities have really pulled together to help each other in the snowy conditions -it's great to see community spirit alive and kicking in our county."

Council efforts continue in snowy conditions

Efforts to clear snow and fallen trees from roads in south Denbighshire is continuing this afternoon (Sunday).

A number of main roads remain affected:

• A5104 is partly open between Bryneglwys and Corwen
• Horseshoe Pass is unlikely to open for some time and work is on-going to try and clear the snow
• The Council is attempting to open the Llanelidan link. Work ongoing in Llanelidan through Brynegwlys to Carrog
• A5 remains closed between Corwen and Llangollen

Many smaller routes, in particular in the south of the county remain impassable.

Council teams are using a range of machinery as part of efforts to get the road network clear as quickly as possible. These machinery include loading shovels, JCBs, large excavators, snow blowers, gritters and agri-ploughs. Local contractors have been drafted in to assist with the clear-up operation.

Denbighshire County Council would like to reassure residents that teams are working around the clock in often atrocious conditions  and we would like to thank people for their patience and understanding.  People should continue to monitor websites, social media, news and weather bulletins for the latest information. 
Update on snow in Denbighshire - Sunday morning from the county council.

"Weather unprecedented" says council chief

A number of roads in Denbighshire remain closed due to the heavy snowfall over recent days.  The roads closed are:  A5 Corwen to Llangollen remains closed, and will be prioritised. The road is open from Llangollen to Wrexham  A5104 Closed, Llandegla to Corwen

A542 Horseshoe pass between Llandegla and Llangollen Closed

B5431 into LLanarmon Yn Ial village still closed

Teams of staff from the Council are working around the clock to clear roads, often working in atrocious conditions. Fallen trees are also a hazard in the county and contractors have been deployed again this morning to assist the Council in dealing with the fallen trees, in particular on the A5 between Corwen and Llangollen.  Councillor David Smith, Cabinet Lead Member for Environment, said: "This weather is unprecedented in Denbighshire. Many of our highways staff say they are the worst conditions they have experienced and a number of our communities, in particular in south Denbighshire have been greatly affected.  "We would like to reassure residents that we are doing our utmost to clear the county's roads and to get things moving again and our gritting and ploughing teams have been working through the night to assist in these efforts. They are doing great work and I would also like to pay tribute to the contractors that have been assisting us in this work".  Weather forecasts predict that light snow may become more persistent again through this morning and linger into the afternoon to give the chance of further slight accumulations, especially over the high routes. However, the snow should die out by evening to leave a dry night with some clear intervals developing and temperatures falling below zero with the risk of ice. With fresh easterly winds, further drifting of lying snow is likely.