ITN News / ITN news on Friday 18th December
Recent winter weather and snowfall has thrown the United Kingdom into chaos.
In some of the worst hit parts of the country roads are littered with abandoned cars. As temperatures rallied into positive figures today many were returning to retrieve their vehicles. There have been reports that a high number of people have spent the night trapped in their cars in freezing temperatures.
There has been a lot of disruption to public transport with bus and train services cancelled and many flights also cancelled. Eurostar train services from Europe suffered a number of break downs due to snow getting into the train power systems. Around 2000 unfortunate travellers found themselves trapped for 16 hours in the dark tunnel under the English Channel. Some passengers have experienced panic attacks and there have been some cases of extreme claustrophobia prompting some to leave their trains and attempt to walk to a station.
Eurostar have now begun to resume operation of their high speed trains after three days with no service. There are now huge queues of stranded passengers to deal with in both France and the UK.
As freezing temperatures persist the National Health Service has told people they should stay at home unless their journey is absolutely essential. Hospitals have reported unprecedented numbers of people injured as a result of falling on icy pavements.
With Christmas only days away many people need to visit their local towns in order to complete their pre-christmas shopping. This is forcing many to venture onto dangerous pavements that are treacherous.
People are already discussing how badly the UK has managed this latest period of wintery weather. Local councils have been quick to treat main road surfaces with grit and salt but many smaller side roads and pavements have remained untreated.
In February 2009 the UK was plunged into icy Arctic conditions when winter weather caused traffic chaos, school closures and disruption on a massive scale. This latest period of bad weather has prompted many people to ask why the UK suffers so much when winter comes along.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
For great contract hire deals you need to visit the recently updated nationwidevehiclecontracts.co.uk new look website. Even if you have previously been refused credit they can help you get the car you want with their bad credit car loans. So why not take a look at the latest BMW leasing deals.