Fears that frozen snow in Derbyshire will cause problems

TEMPERATURES as low as -10C are expected to hit Derbyshire tomorrow night – with fears that frozen snow will disrupt the county.

Farmers were out clearing the roads, while the number of 999 calls increased, after four inches of snow fell across Derbyshire this weekend.

The snowfall inspired Derby Telegraph readers to take some superb photographs. Richard Miller, of Chaddesden, captured early morning around Spondon, top, and above left. Colin Williams, of Derby, shot a bustling Darley Park, above right, while Gary Small, also of Derby, was at the same location to picture Tim Pickering, of Derby, below left, and Madu Gowda (back) and an unidentified friend, below right, sledging. Centre, Roy Ratcliffe, of Belper, proved there's no place like gnome with this shot in his garden.

But, although forecasters said the dry weather of yesterday would continue, they warned people to watch out for the icy conditions.

Helen Chivers, of the Met Office, said: "Temperatures in the day this week may be at one or two degrees.

"But there is a continuing risk and problem of black ice at night – especially as the snow is thawing."

As the temperatures plummeted over the weekend, the number of people in need of medical attention also began to rise.

On Sunday, East Midlands Ambulance Service predicted it would get just under 900 calls to life-threatening emergencies but it actually received more than 1,000.

Over the weekend, its crews responded to more than 3,400 call-outs.

Peter Ripley, the service's director of operations said 4x4 vehicles were used to bring staff from Derbyshire into work who could not get in because of the snow.

He said: "It is especially challenging for us to reach people quickly when many roads are covered with snow or ice.

"Calls increased due to more road traffic collisions, slips or falls and for people who experienced breathing problems due to an existing medical condition and the low temperatures."

The Royal Derby Hospital saw 312 people attend its accident and emergency department on Sunday, a slight increase in broken wrists and various sledging-related injuries.

In the county's rural areas, farmers have using their equipment to clear snow from the country lanes.

Bill Dilks, 68, who runs Hollyhouse dairy farm in Shottle, near Belper, said he was up yesterday at 5.15am laying out gravel on nearby roads.

He said: "On the Sunday, I cleared snow off about two miles of roads and a fellow farmer near me did a similar amount.

"After that, we rely on the melt to clear the rest as we've not actually got salt but my tanker was skidding slightly on the ice yesterday so I had to put out some gravel.

"It's quite a lot of work but most of the roads around us are cleared by farmers."

Derbyshire County Council also said it had more than 30 farmers and other contractors out clearing Derbyshire Dales roads on Sunday.

In Derby, city councillor Chris Poulter, the cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said there was plenty of grit left – with 230 out of about 5,000 tones used over the weekend.

He said: "We're hoping the store will last at least two years so we are well stocked.

"Our aim when the snow fell was to keep all the major thoroughfares going and keep schools and businesses up and running.

"We're not expecting more snow but it will be freezing so we will keep gritting."

VIDEO: ">Enjoy a video of snowy scenes in Stoney Middleton