Keep an eye on your neighbours

As most areas of North Wales returns to a form of normality following the inclement weather, people are reminded to keep an eye on vulnerable members of the community.

 

The majority of roads are now passable, but some of the estates in Wrexham, Flintshire and Denbighshire remain impassable as do the roads to the remote rural properties.

 

“All the agencies have worked together to address the issues, but we have to prioritise, and we are asking people to consider their neighbours,” said Chief Inspector Dave Roome.

 

Alistair Read of the North Wales Mountain Rescue Association explained: “There are some isolated pockets and we are advising people to plan ahead given the forecast. People should conserve food and look at energy supplies, we would ask people to make an assessment of their vulnerability and preparedness due to the uncertainty of the weather.”

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As the snow falls again this morning (Tuesday) Llangollen gets a number of mentions in this weather update story from the BBC North East Wales website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-21930029

KLS urges wide consultation on new tourism plan

Community group Keep Llangollen Special (KLS) has written to the company preparing a sustainable tourism strategy for the area stressing that a range of interested parties must be consulted as it is being drawn up.

In a letter to the consultants working on the project, KLS chair Mike Edwards (pictured below) says: “We trust you will be consulting fully when formulating your strategy and talking to residents, retailers, producers, hoteliers and outdoor activity providers etc.

“We are a constructive, properly constituted community organisation and our principal aim is to protect and promote the identity, image and brand of Llangollen.

"We have been holding monthly Buy Local days on the second Friday of every month since the middle of last year. “The aim of these is to support and promote independent local businesses (retailers and suppliers) to keep money circulating in the local economy rather than being it being exported to corporate HQs elsewhere.
 
“We are working with Cittaslow Llangollen and the Town Council to support Field2Fork encouraging residents to buy local fresh produce sufficient for their immediate needs and not buy and waste excess food as they are persuaded  into doing by supermarkets.

“We also want to promote local food producers and farmers whose meat products have trusted provenance and help particular local butchers, greengrocers, delicatessens and cafes who will shortly face severe competition from an out-of-town supermarket who propose to export £18.4m pa out of the Llangollen economy.
 
“We are actively investigating a number of key schemes to promote these aims.

“If your consultations are open and truly involve local residents, we would be happy to share our ideas and plans with you.

“One of the problems we have identified is that there are numerous organisations in Llangollen some of which have their own agenda and there is a need to pull these fragmented interest together because at the end of the day surely everyone is interested in protecting and enhancing everything which is special about Llangollen and the Dee Valley.”

Melting snow causes structural damage

llanblogger's narrow escape from falling gutter ...

Reports are coming in of damage to property all over town caused by tons of melting snow.

As a partial thaw set in llanblogger has been hearing of snow-laden trees crashing on to patios and carports and through the windows of parked cars. 

Llanblogger’s own property in Regent Street was among those hit earlier this afternoon.

A huge area of melting snow slid down the roof of the house bringing over 20 feet of heavy cast-iron guttering (pictured right) crashing to the ground. 

One of the heavy sections went straight through the rear of a car parked on the driveway at the side. It later had to be towed away for repairs.

The falling guttering, which came down along with a massive wooden faceboard, landed only feet away from where llanblogger editor Phil Robinson was out clearing away snow.

Out on the road, the A5 which had been closed between Llangollen and Corwen since Saturday, was finally re-opened at around 5pm today.  

Meanwhile, Clwyd South MP Susan Elan Jones has written to ScottishPower’s headquarters in Glasgow to ask what the company is doing to help customers in her constituency through the current spell of arctic weather. 

In her letter she says: “Following recent bad weather experienced within my constituency, I am writing to ascertain what action ScottishPower has taken in the Clwyd South area in order to help constituents through this difficult time. 

“A number of constituents have reported blackouts to their power over the past week as a result of the extreme weather conditions that have hit North East Wales. Some have been left without power for a number of days. 

“I would appreciate clarification of what has happened and any details on action taken by Scottish Power in order to combat the issues that my constituents have been experiencing. Furthermore, I would be grateful if you could provide details of the compensation package available to those who have been affected by the cuts in power and what can be expected by constituents who have been experiencing these problems.”

11am weather update

* A North Wales Police traffic officer took this picture of the Ponderosa Café on the Horseshoe Pass - which remains closed to traffic - about 11am on Monday. 

Snow update (Monday morning) from Denbighshire County Council

Efforts to clear snow and fallen trees from roads in south Denbighshire is continuing today (Monday).

Highways  As at 10.30am, a number of main roads remain affected and the priority today is to re-open the A5, which is still closed between Corwen and Llangollen.  Crews are battling to get through to a number of fallen trees to remove them. There are also concerns about the safety of a number of trees, which could fall at any time under the weight of the snow.  We are hopeful that the Horseshoe pass will be cleared today  B5430 Nant y Garth is passable with care.  A5104 is open but continuing to widen the carriageway.  B5437 Carrog to Corwen - is open but not from Carrog to Bryneglwys.  Eryrys to Graianrhyd is open.  A543 Denbigh Moors is still closed.  B4501 Denbigh to Cerrigydrudion is still closed.  Travellers Inn to Tremeirchion off the A55 is still closed.  Many smaller routes, in particular in the south of the county remain impassable but the situation is constantly changing and we will update progress later this afternoon.  Council teams are using a range of machinery as part of efforts to get the road network clear as quickly as possible. This machinery includes loading shovels, JCBs, large excavators, snow blowers, gritters and agri-ploughs. Local contractors have been drafted in to assist with the clear-up operation.  Crews have also been deployed to clear town centre street in Llangollen.  Public transport is still being affected

X50 Ruthin to Wrexham section: in spite of early running this morning, this is now WITHDRAWN temporarily, owing to road widths on the tops at the Wrexham end.  Buses are meeting other vehicles, including cars, and cannot manoeuvre around each other in the snow.

The X94 Barmouth-Dolgellau-Bala-Corwen-Llangollen-Wrexham is operating Barmouth to Dolgellau in the west only; and Wrexham to Acrefair in the east only, according to Arriva managers. This owing to the road closure between Corwen and Llangollen. There are no alternative routes for buses of 12m in length.

Service 76 Denbigh-Llandyrnog-Ruthin-Graigfechan. A bus has met with a collision between Llangwyfan to Llangynhafal and the service will operate normally except for this section. This is owing to drifting snow on to road that has frozen.

Service 10 (Bodfari - Rhyl) not serving Cwm village.  Welfare issues  Thoughts are now turning to welfare issues as the cold snap conitnues and anyone experiencing difficulties should contact Denbighshire Customer Services on 01824 706100 (Welsh line) or 01824 706101 (English) to ask for assistance. Calls will be prioritised to target those who need immediate and urgent help.  Animal welfare officers will also be prioritising and animal welfare issues. Again, please contact the above numbers to raise any concerns.  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.

Llan filmed for national TV

 

 

* The ITN film unit's van parked opposite the Royal Hotel this morning.

 

 

* Traffic queues up in Castle Street while lorries deliver to the shops.

A crew from ITN were in town this morning filming shots of Llangollen under its heavy layer of spring snow.

They beamed panoramic pictures of the bridge, Castle Street, the River Dee and the Methodist Church live into the Daybreak news magazine programme on ITV and later into the Lorraine show.

The crew arrived in a large white and orange van, complete with satellite dish on the roof, which was parked up opposite the Royal Hotel while the filming went ahead.

Speaking to llanblogger, the cameraman, who said he was based near Manchester, explained the crew was one of three outside broadcast units which had been despatched to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to provide live footage of snow scenes for ITV.

Meanwhile, traffic jams developed in Castle Street and along the A5 in Regent Street as lorries had to park directly outside shops because they could not get into snow-bound side-streets or car parks as usual.

Pavements around town still buried under tons of snow were more treacherous than ever this morning after an overnight freeze left them coated with ice.

Traffic Wales reported earlier that the A5 between Llan and Corwen remained closed in both directions because of trees brought down by the snow lying across the carriageway.  

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.

More snow pictures from a reader

Latest reader's snow pictures

W Fowler sent in the two pictures below.

He says: "Snowy pictures from Pentredwr...and.main road past Britannia to Llangollen this afternoon.

Afternoon update from Diane Slater ...

It is going to take ages to clear all this snow. Everybody saying it is the worst since 1963. Good job folks look after their neighbours . We have been feeding the birds constantly . So many local people cannot get out at all . Apparently there are loads of trees down by the old YHA , real shame .



Reader Diane Slater has been in touch to say: "Here are a few photos I took this morning.

"The car covered in snow is ours next to our cottage on the Geraint.

"There is a photo of our dog Bramble walking home along a trench we dug yesterday.

"The fallen trees are across the road going up the Geraint. No chance of getting passed there until the Council remove them!"

Other readers can send their snow pictures to llanblogger@gmail.com




* The buried car.

* Bramble walks home.

 * The fallen trees.