VIDEO: Snow, low temperatures and icy gales for the weekend
Driving conditions around the county were treacherous on Friday evening - with more heavy snow on the way.
Photographer Rod Kirkpatrick filmed the roads in the north of Derbyshire and around Ashbourne - and saw a vehicle on its roof and abandoned cars. Watch the video below.
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.A van lies, upside down, in a ditch after sliding off the A515 near Hartington. Picture: Rod Kirkpatrick
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Daffodils buried in deep snow near Ashbourne. Picture: Rod Kirkpatrick
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A van almost disappears in a blizzard as driving winds blow snow across the A53 near Buxton. Picture: Rod Kirkpatrick
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Families are bracing themselves for a return of the wintry weather this weekend.
Heavy snow is forecast for Derbyshire during Friday evening.
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The Met Office said the snow will continue during the night and into the early hours of the Saturday.
A spokeswoman said: “There is potential for 10-15cm of snow to fall in the highlands and 5-10cm in Derby.”
She said the “slight snow flurries” will continue tomorrow daytime but ease off by the evening.
She said it is no longer thought Derbyshire will be hit by more snow on Sunday.
Temperatures across the weekend are not expected to reach much above freezing.
The AA has warned of major disruption on the roads as what it called the weather "witch's brew" takes hold.
It warned motorists there could be a repeat of the scenes in southern England last week when hundreds of drivers were stranded in their cars overnight.
Darron Burness, the AA's Head of Special Operations, said: "Drivers should be well prepared as even short journeys can quickly turn bad."
He also said snow that settles could persist in the low temperatures, leading to icy patches.
"Wherever you're going, take plenty of warm layers, check the travel reports before heading out and stick to the main roads where possible," he said.
Schools were gearing up to alert parents should conditions force them to close. And county and city emergency teams are on standby to try to keep routes open.
Keith Myatt, communications manager at Arriva, said the company hoped to be able to maintain its services.
He said: "We will regularly monitor our services over the day and over the weekend."
An East Midlands Airport spokeswoman said there was a team on standby in order to deal with the heavy snowfall. She said: "The airport has a contingency plan in place in case the weather does affect operations."
Mr Chivers said: "Over the next couple of days ice will bring problems and will be hazardous. People should prepare for this when they are heading out and about."
But she said the conditions were not necessarily unseasonable. "It's not unusual to get snow in March. It's more common to get snow at Easter than at Christmas. What is perhaps unusual is the length of the cold weather that we have had all the way through February and March."
2 Comments
by Steve999
Friday, March 22 2013, 5:36PM
“2:17 of my life wasted.”
by gerryegan
Friday, March 22 2013, 2:44PM
“with cold winters becoming the norm and bills going up why dont the goverment while they can still borrow cheap money build more nuclear power stations and keep the profits instead of giving private companys billions to build them and fill there pockets . this would get people working and pay back the loan over the years. in my view this would reduce us depending on the rest of this unstable world for our gas.i awate the usuall anti public sector haters you know who”