UK snow: schools shut in hazardous weather

Heavy snowfall has seen hundreds of schools across the UK close completely, while others have been forced to open at later times.

In Aberdeenshire, 117 schools have closed and 30 have been affected by travel chaos, leaving just 28 fully open at this stage.

A spokesman for Aberdeenshire Council told Channel 4 News: “It’s incredible; I’ve never seen whiteout conditions like it.

“We are very experienced and well prepared for these conditions but with temperatures as low as -10C, heating schools becomes a problem, and with our rural roads and high mountain roads transport is always an issue.”

He said most school children will still be able to post their work to their teachers online, through the schools’ intranet websites.

Edinburgh City Council, Perth and Kinross Council, West Lothian Council, Moray Council, Dundee City Council and Midlothian Council, said schools would remain closed today. Scottish Borders Council said all of its schools were closed today.

Plummeting temperatures 

Temperatures in the north-west Highlands dropped to minus 15 degrees celcius last night, with the Met Office warning the mercury will barely rise about 0C for the rest of the day. 

Read more on the latest snow and travel conditions.

Thousands of children across the north and east of England also have another unexpected day off because of the wintry weather.

Further south in North Yorkshire, the largest rural county in England, 50 primary schools are closed and 47 secondary schools have shut their gates today.

While this is an improvement on the closure of 137 schools yesterday, the North Yorkshire County Council told Channel 4 News that schools are making a huge effort to stay open.

We encourage headteachers to leave the decision whether to close the school until the last possible moment because we do not want schools being closed unnecessarily Cynthia Welbourn, North Yorks County Council

“We are working with the schools to clear roads – gritters and ploughs have been going all night. But it’s still snowing here,” a spokesman said.

Cynthia Welbourn, North Yorkshire county council’s corporate director for Children and Young People’s Service added: “We encourage headteachers to leave the decision whether to close the school until the last possible moment because we do not want schools being closed unnecessarily. Many parents are working and we want to support them as far as we can to carry on with their normal responsibilities.”

Meanwhile in Cornwall, 42 schools out of 280 have shut, while a further 43 were due to late open morning.

A spokesman for Cornwall County Council told Channel 4 News: “The decision on whether to stay open or not is up to the school’s head teacher and board of governors. But we would advise that safety is paramount, the travel conditions are extremely icy at the moment.”

A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesman said: “There have been no problems reported on the roads today, but as always we are urging people to drive with caution at a speed appropriate for the conditions, taking extra care on non-major roads.”

More than 70 schools have closed in Nottinghamshire, while another 60 have shut for the day in Derbyshire.