Snow in Cambridgeshire causes school closures and long delays
A number of schools across Cambridgeshire are closed today (Monday, December 12) and motorists are facing gridlock after heavy snowfall overnight.
More than a dozen schools have closed due to safety concerns about pupils and staff being able to safely travel.
Some areas of the county have seen 5cm of snow overnight.
Cambridgeshire County Council says its gritting teams are out and snow ploughs have been fitted to vehicles to clear some of the heavier snowfall.
Hills Road Sixth Form College has said lessons will start at 10.25am.
On the college’s website, it says: “Please take care when travelling and if you feel you would place yourself in unnecessary risk, please stay at home and revert to remote working. In the event that teachers are unable to get to college, or are running late due to weather-related travel issues, students should look out for communications by Teams or email about arrangements for their lessons.”
Long Road Sixth Form College is also open but says students should “only travel if it is safe for you to do so”.
Wimpole Estate is closed and staff say they are working to manage the situation. A statement on Twitter said they will review conditions ahead of this evening’s Christmas at Wimpole lights trail.
Commuters are facing gridlocked roads across the region, with National Highways urging only “absolutely essential” travel on the roads in south-east England.
The M25 is heavily affected by around 5cm of snow and stranded vehicles, including jack-knifed lorries, in both directions from junction 23 (Bignells Corner) to junction 27 (Theydon) as well as the M11 northbound between junctions 5 (Loughton) and 7 (Harlow).
Train operator Greater Anglia said “do not travel” until after 8am, and then to check if your train was still running in a tweet earlier this morning.
It said services running across the whole Greater Anglia network may be cancelled, delayed by up to 50 minutes or revised, adding that disruption is expected until further notice.
The Met Office has extended a yellow weather warning for snow and icy patches until 11am on Tuesday.
The following schools have confirmed they are closed:
- Barrington Primary School
- Bassingbourn Primary School
- Burrough Green CofE Primary School
- Cambourne Village College
- Castle Camps Primary School
- Castle School
- Chesterton Community College
- Comberton Village College
- Duxford C of E Primary School
- Fen Drayton Primary School
- Granta Special School
- Great Abington Primary School
- Great and Little Shelford CE (A) Primary School
- Guilden Morden C of E Primary School
- Linton CE Infant School
- Linton Heights Junior School
- Linton Village College
- Meadow Primary School, Balsham
- Melbourn Primary School
- Meldreth Primary School
- Meldreth Manor School
- Meridian Primary School
- Parkside Community College
- Petersfield Primary School
- St Philips CE Primary School
