Photo: Michael James
Snow has hit London in an out of season cold snap bringing the earliest widespread snowfall of a British winter since 1993.
As temperatures around the capital fell last week many local boroughs implemented severe weather precautions, such as gritting the roads and footpaths.
A spokesperson for Croydon council said: “We’re working round the clock to ensure Croydon keeps moving during the snow.”
Today Croydon residents have been panic-buying essentials, and schools are closing because of the snow blizzard.
Coloma Girls School and Thomas Moore Catholic School were forced to close at 12.30 and Westwood Girls College and Byron Primary School were giving students an early lunch and asking parents to collect their children as soon as possible. Bensham Manor, Heavers Farm Primary, Priory School and Victoria House Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) have been closed all day.
Local events due to take place today, such as Young Enterprise Croydon meeting and Forestdale Primary School library club have been cancelled as snow ground the borough to a halt.
“My Sister has just got the tram to Ikea Croydon for work and they are thinking of closing the store,” said Steve Tanner, a local resident, who added: “In New Addington the local residents are buying everything they can get their hands on. Iceland are running out of basic essentials such as milk.”
The road from New Addington has been grid-locked all the way to Gravel Hill since 12.00 and there were no buses moving. The tram is moving very slowly, but still running.
Some residents were complaining on Twitter that the streets in central Croydon started to be gritted as late as midday, which caused two cars to crash near Pixton Way in Forestdale, and a black taxi to crash into a barrier on Lodge Lane.
It is estimated that the snow will reach around one to three cm across the borough, with the possibility of around five to eight cm in some places.
@johnnyandlisa says: “I’ve been from Croydon to Bromley and back and not seen one grit lorry. How long have we known this was coming? And were still unprepared.” @johnmcgiffin says: “Still in croydon. Average speed 0.5 mph”
Do you have an interesting Croydon snow story? Send us your words and pictures to news@eastlondonlines.co.uk
What a drama queen!
Get a life and stop scare mongering! Croydonians won’t let a little snow rattle them. Make sure you support the market traders. They’re the salt of the earth and will still be there, come rain, hail or shine. 😉
That’s a point actually, I saw on the news how councils have stocked up on grit and they’ve got these new spreaders that mix the salt with water first so they use less and it melts snow much quicker…yet I personally haven’t seen any lorries.
During my trecherous hikes to work and in between slip ups, I did pass the odd pile of grit sitting on the edge of the pavement…wasn’t sure whether we were meant to be spreading it ourselves. If so I’ll grab a handful tomorrow >.<