Blizzards and gales create chaos

Mar 31 2010

Wintry weather has made an unwelcome return to parts of the UK, causing chaos on the roads and leaving thousands without power.

In parts of Scotland, heavy snow and strong winds affected major road routes and 20,000 homes faced power cuts.

In Northern Ireland, around 15,000 households were without electricity as strong winds, torrential rain and snow wreaked havoc.

Police warned people in the Lothian and Borders area of Scotland to travel only if necessary as motorists became stuck in snowdrifts and floods.

Two lorries got into difficulty on the M8 at junction 3 creating large tailbacks and two men had a lucky escape after a 50ft tree fell on a car in Edinburgh city centre.

The A701 Dumfries to Edinburgh Road was shut and in the Highlands the A939 at Tomintoul and the B9007 Ferness to Carrbridge route was closed. Flood warnings were in place for the River Esk and Jed Water and a severe alert was issued for the Eye Water in the Borders.

An arterial route from Belfast to Newtownards in Northern Ireland was partly blocked by a fallen tree and traffic on the motorways was very slow. The Strangford Road in Downpatrick was closed between Quoile Bridge and Saul Mills Road because of a landslide.

Around 200 additional engineers, linesmen, call agents and admin staff were reinforcing the normal capability to restore supplies at Northern Ireland Electricity.

Road conditions were particularly bad between Coleraine and Maghera and between Derry and Dungiven on the Glenshane Pass. There were also reports of heavy snow between Omagh and Dromore.

All P&O Express sailings between Larne and Cairnryan were cancelled due to the weather, but passengers were being transferred to conventional ferry sailings.