The headteacher has issued the following notice regarding the closure of the school:

My main priority is to keep the school open as normal.  However, I need to close the school today at 3 pm as it cannot operate effectively or safely.  School will be closed tomorrow (Friday 8 January) but it is our intention to re-open on Monday 11 January. 

The decision has been taken due to safety concerns.  There is a weather warning of significant snowfall overnight.  The County Council have announced that they are unable to guarantee gritting all but the main roads and Bus Companies will not guarantee that public transport will be running.   There are also health and safety concerns as our supplies of grit have run out and no more is available for purchase.  There is also standing water inside the buildings and on staircases. 

Any child who has difficulty getting home or who feels unsafe about leaving the premises should make themselves known to their tutor OR subject teacher. 

He or she can then proceed to the Library Resource Centre where he or she will be supervised.  The office will help with their arrangements to get home.  If the school is not in session and there is doubt about opening, you should listen to messages on BBC Radio Newcastle, Century FM.  If the school is not mentioned then we are open.  Or refer to our website www.fram.durham.sch.uk. 

Any child who is unable to get home safely will be supervised until arrangements can be made.

I detail below an update to County Councillors: (below this is the weather,refuse and wintermaintenance update for today)

We are now advising the public that due to current under supply and future uncertainty of supply of salt, it is necessary to prioritise gritting to all A and B category roads throughout the county. This covers the vast majority of bus routes. Every effort will also be made to maintain main thoroughfares where there are significant gradients.

The Council will continue to plough all priority routes but only A and B category roads will be treated with salt from later tonight. We will also continue to keep the situation under review and as soon as more salt becomes available we will reprioritise.

It is important that everyone understands we are managing very difficult ongoing winter conditions with restricted supplies. So far we have spread more than 30,000 tonnes and have spent in excess of £3 million maintaining the highway network and priority footpaths. We also have utilized our streetscene resources with up to 200 of our staff clearing footpaths and town centres each day since the middle of December. Since the cold weather began, the Council has received significantly less salt than ordered.

The Council continues to do everything it can to maintain the highway network and to keep footpaths clear although we are reliant on having sufficient supplies of salt to enable us to do so.

Please be aware that salt is very good at preventing ice formation just below 0 degree (freezing point) however this effectiveness reduces quite considerably as temperatures decrease below -5 degrees.

At present overnight temperatures are reaching -8 degrees and are not rising above freezing point during the day. To be effective the salt also needs reasonable traffic levels to grind it into any lying snow. This explains why even well gritted roads are taking time to clear.

The cold spell has affected the whole country over a prolonged period and as a result, there are concerns about salt stocks nationally. Local authorities rely on salt stock being topped up by fresh deliveries over the winter period and at present accessing additional supplies is difficult because of the high demand nationally.

In County Durham we made sure that all of our salt barns were filled at the start of the winter. Even so the continued use of salt in keeping our roads open has meant that we have a difficult situation to manage. We must be prudent in our salt use in order to conserve stocks. Hence routine gritting is being restricted to the A and B roads.

County Council update of refuse and winter mainenance:

 Please find below a brief update on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning actions and the weather forecast for Wednesday 6 January to Thursday 7 January 2010.

12.00 Tuesday 5 January to 08.00 Wednesday 6 January 2010

Yesterday afternoon was mostly cloudy with snow showers. The snow showers continued overnight, heavy at times. RSTs below zero.

Northern Area – More snow fell than forecast on 5 Jan.  Coastal area got quite heavy snowfall especially between 1330 and 1530.  The central area then got a very heavy snow shower around 1530 and for a period roads were at a standstill or were moving very slowly.

Up to midnight the snow showers continued mainly in the coastal and central area giving around 100mm of snow.  Crews continued to work shifts and through continuous working and use of additional tractor ploughs teams managed to keep on top of the situation. 

After midnight the snow largely stopped in the coastal area but we got significantly more in the Low Pennine area where we have had up to 150mm more snow in some areas.  Tractor ploughs were brought in as well as extra drivers to clear the snow hills route (Lanchester/Stanley/Annfield Plain hill areas).  Conditions this morning are described as passable with extreme care.

Southern Area – Up to 180 mm of snow on highest routes.  Many of these routes very difficult and narrow in places or closed.

Low ground routes reported as passable with care.

Work continued overnight, mostly ploughing.

12.00 Wednesday 6 January to 12.00 Thursday 7 January 2010

A few snow showers are likely through the rest of this morning giving a light covering locally, but these will be increasingly well-scattered. Sunny spells developing. Snow showers are increasingly likely through the afternoon and evening, giving 2-3cm in places. RSTs will struggle to rise above zero today and will soon fall back below during the afternoon. Overnight, clear spells with scattered snow showers continuing. A further 2-3cm is possible, although confidence is fairly low on this. RSTs well below zero with ice likely. Tomorrow morning will see sunny spells and a few further snow showers.

Actions

Northern Area – Work will continue today to try and improve conditions and plough out additional widths of road.  Will also try and work on Priority 2 routes when Priority 1 routes clear.

Southern Area – Work is ongoing to try and keep major routes open.

Roads Closed

C20 Meadows Edge                                                                     C27 Harthope

C77 West Blackdene to Rookhope                                        Unc 16.2 Rookhope to Blanchland

C78 North of Westgate                                                              C21 Rookhope

C28 Swinhope                                                                                B6278 Stanhope-Eggleston (Shaftwell Head) 

B6277 closed beyond Harwood                                               C29 Middle end to Middleton

C166 closed in North Yorkshire

Streetscene and refuse

Sedgefiedl/Wear Valley/Teesdale – All collections suspended due to weather conditions.  Available staff to work on snow clearing.

Chester-le-Street/Derwentside – All collections suspended due to weather conditions.  Available staff to work on snow clearing.

Easington – All collections suspended.

Durham – At present some collections being carried out but only where safe to do so.

Winter Weather Information

http://www.durham.gov.uk/Pages/Service.aspx?Serviceld=929

Refuse collections put back by at least one day possibly longer.

FROM COUNTY COUNCIL INCLUDING REFUSE:

 RST – Road Surface temperatures, Durham City is in Northern Area.

Tuesday 5 January/Wednedsay 6 January 2010

RSTs will remain below zero through most of the coming 24 hours with widespread ice. Snow showers can be expected at times for the rest of the afternoon, tonight and tomorrow morning as well. The showers will be heaviest and most frequent near to the east coast, but some showers will move further inland too. Strong north-easterly winds could lead to drifting.                                                                                 

Accumulations of 2-5cm widely, but up to 8cm in the worst-affected areas.

Actions

Southern Area – Crews on standby 4pm today and 3 am tomorrow.  Evening shift will continue until 11pm/midnight with the possibility of continuing until 3am.  Treatment of secondary routes to be done tomorrow morning.

Northern Area – All depots to be manned for next 24 hours.

Streetscene and refuse

Derwentside – Working in South Stanley and Langley Park today collecting bins where it is safe to do so.  

Chester-le-Street – No snow clearing teams out today as all out on the bin collections.

Durham – Crews out today, also using smaller tractors and trailers to assist where difficult for larger vehicles to gain access.

Easington – Crews out today, also using smaller tractors and trailers to assist where difficult for larger vehicles to gain access.

Sedgefield/Wear Valley/Teesdale – Crews out collecting where it is safe to do so.  Also doing snow clearing and some gritting of footpaths.

Monday 4 Jan/Tuesday 5 Jan 2010

Mostly fine this affternoon and this evening, but a band of sleet and snow will move down from the northwest from 10pm onwards (perhaps 8 or 9pm in extreme west), clearing southwards by 2/3am. Thereafter there will be some clear spells, but a freshening north to north-east wind will start to feed scattered heavy snow showers in off the North Sea, these continuing on and off through Tuesday. RSTs well below zero with widespread ice.

 

A general 2-5cm of fresh snow expected with 5-10cm possible in hilly parts.

 

Actions

 

Northern area – Standby pm and am.  All depots to be manned overnight. 

Southern area – Standby 6pm and am.  Work to continue overnight until at least 9am and may continue after this time depending on conditions. 

 

RSTs well below zero.  Snow showers in all areas.

 

Streetscene and Refuse

Recycling and refuse collection continuing as normal in all areas of the County.  Where there are still problems with access crews will continue to try and access this week where there have been missed collections.

Continuing to clear footpaths in all areas.

 

Weekend 3/4  January 2009

Northern area – RSTs well below zero.  Snow showers in all areas.

Southern area – Sunday remained very cold and there were frequent snow showers during the morning.  The showers became fewer in the afternoon although there were still a few drifting in from the north.  During the evening and overnight, it was dry with largely clear skies.  It was another very cold night with RSTs remaining well below freezing.  

 

Actions

Northern Area – snow salt at 6pm and 4am.

Southern Area – snow salted pm (all areas) and am higher areas; pre salted most areas am

 

I have been notified that there will be no refuse collections today and that collections will now take place tomorrow – due to Health and Safety issues – I imagine this is mainly due to the state of the side streets and pavements. if you find your refuse/recycling hasn’t been picked up, please leave it out for an extra day.

FROM MARK

Council update below. The daily addition of snow is clearly causing many concerns particularly on residential roads. Some streets have now had icerinks and dangerous pavements for over two weeks. Whilst it is clear from the updates from County Hall that they are pushed out, I am increasingly concerned about residential side streets and pavements. Many of the pavements outside the communal halls in the area have not been touched, and I will be again requesting action in certain areas which up to now have not been tended to – probably because of the workload keeping the main routes open.

COUNTY COUNCIL UPDATE

General Synopsis

Staying cold this afternoon with bright spells and further scattered snow showers, many of them light but still the risk of an occasional heavy one, especially in the east. This evening and at first tonight there are still likely to be scattered snow showers, particularly in the east giving 1-3cm. These are expected to finally die away towards midnight leaving it dry for a few hours, before a few more light flurries edge down from the north between 5 and 8am amounting to less than 1cm. These then clearing to leave tomorrow mostly dry. Road Surface Temperatures (RSTs) well below zero with widespread ice (typically -8 C)

Proposed actions

Drivers were changed at 1.00pm this afternoon and will continue until the showers die out this evening.  Next shift commences at 4.00am tomorrow morning to ensure return to work journeys are as trouble free as possible.  All priority 1 and 2 routes to be treated.

Footways will continued to be cleared by hand.

The position on refuse collections will be reviewed tomorrow morning

Outlook for next few days

Remaining very cold throughout. Mosty fine tomorrow and the first half of tomorrow night, but a band of sleet and snow spreading from the north in the second half of the night, heavy in places. This will move away on Tuesday to leave the following few days with a mix of clear spells and snow showers, some of the snow showers very heavy and frequent at times.

FROM COUNTY COUNCIL

Overnight
Yesterday afternoon there were outbreaks of sleet and snow giving accumulations. There were then further outbreaks of sleet and snow during the first half of the night giving further accumulations, particularly over the coastal strip (some 3″). . The sleet and snow then cleared away after midnight to leave it largely dry, although there were a few snow flurries in the west between 0500 and 0700. Road surface temperatures (RSTs) well below zero with icy conditions.

General Synopsis
Heavy sleet and snow will spread south across the county this afternoon with several cms accumulating rapidly between 2 and 6pm. The snow will clear away southwards between 6 and 8pm, leaving lengthy clear spells and just well scattered snow showers overnight. RSTs well below zero with widespread ice.
Snow Summary
From this afternoons snow 1-3cm expected on the coast where it may start as sleety rain before turning to snow. 2-5cm on low ground inland. 4-8cm in Pennine areas. An additional local 1cm almost anywhere from any well scattered snow showers overnight, although these most likely by the coast.
Proposed Actions
Shifts have again been extended for another 24hrs till 1.00pm tomorrow 3rd Jan to deal with the expected snow this evening and overnight showers

From County Council :

 

Overnight it was very cold with further sleet and snow showers, with the showers merging during the early hours to give longer spells of snow, with some heavy bursts. There were significant accumulations of snow. 
15 cm of fresh snow this morning already in Upper Teesdale and Weardale and up to 5cm at lower levels. RSTs fell well below zero down to -5C. There were a spate of minor accidents early evening in various locations but it became quieter from around 7.30pm.  Three snow salts were undertaken but even so the roads kept turning white during the heavier showers of 3am and 6am

 

 

General Synopsis

 

This morning there will be outbreaks of snow with accumulations of 5-8cm, although up to 10cm is possible locally. There will then be further sleet and snow showers this afternoon into the evening with another 5cm of snow possible. Overnight it will be very cold with further scattered sleet and snow showers with accumulations of 1cm possible in places, especially across the higher routes. RSTs falling well below zero with ice and the risk of hoar frost. Tomorrow morning there will be the further risk of some sleet and snow showers with up to 10cm possible.

 

 

 

Actions

Continuing to keep major routes open but the prospect of further significant snowfall means that shifts are being extended from 1.00pm today to 1.00pm Saturday.  All involved in WM are becoming increasingly tired!

FROM COUNTY COUNCIL

 

Wednesday evening/Thursday morning update

Northern Area – Road surface temperatures below zero. Showers falling as snow with accumulations on all roads.

 

Southern Area – Wednesday afternoon was rather cloudy with outbreaks of rain, sleet and snow. Overnight it was very cold and breezy with some clear spells but there was also quite a lot of cloud as well as sleet and snow showers. Some of the snow showers were heavy at times leading to accumulations. Road surface temperatures fell well below zero.

 

Actions Northern Area –  Some areas were pre-salted at 6.00 p.m. and 4.00 a.m.  with the other areas being snow salted at 3.00 p.m. and  4.00 a.m.  High ground routes were re-treated from 10.30 a.m. following snow showers onto below freezing roads. Patrols are taking place in areas where problems have been reported.   Southern Area – Snow salted at 6.00 p.m. and 4.00 a.m. with most areas being re-treated from 6.30 a.m. onwards.  Snow ploughing continues to be carried out on the highest roads.   Streetscene and refuse

Streetscene continues to assist with winter maintenance activities.

 

Refuse collection was suspended in the northern area and in parts of Durham City due to severe conditions. Collections will recommence on Monday 4^th January 2010.

 

Road Closures

The following roads were closed due to severe weather:-

C21 Rookhope to Allenheads

B6278 Crawleyside

C20 Meadows Edge

B6277 West of Harwood.

 

The B6278 Shaftwell Head and the B6295 Cowshill to Allenheads are passable with care.

 

Thursday 31^st December 2009/Friday 1^st January 2010

It will be cold and breezy this afternoon with sunny spells and scattered wintry showers, giving local slight accumulations of snow. It will be very cold and icy tonight with clear spells and further scattered showers of hail, sleet and snow moving in from the North Sea at intervals. Road surface temperatures will be well below zero with widespread ice. Further snow showers are expected tomorrow, perhaps with a period of more persistent snow spreading from the north by the end of the morning.

Actions

Northern Area – All depots will be on standby from 3.00 p.m.  today until 1.00p.m. on 1^st January 2010.

 

Southern Area – All depots will be on standby from 3.00 p.m. today until 2.00 a.m. on 1^st January 2010.  Secondary routes will be treated tonight from 6.00 p.m. and tomorrow from 6.00 a.m. The PM shift will continue until 2.00 a.m. Possibility of the morning shift working through till lunchtime dependent on conditions.

 

Forecast for the next few days

Remaining very cold throughout the period with road surface temperatures well below zero. Further snow showers tomorrow afternoon and at first tomorrow night but they should die away. Dry for a time on Saturday but snow showers look likely to return in the afternoon and overnight, before slowly dying out on Sunday with increasing amounts of sunshine. Dry on Sunday night and at first on Monday, but a risk of further snow showers later on Monday.

Winter Weather Information

To access the weather summary page please click on the link below.

 

http://www.durham.gov.uk/Pages/Service.aspx?ServiceId=929