Schools shut, drivers stuck as gales and blizzards batter UK
Trains have been canceled, schools shut and drivers stuck for hours as a blast of snow and wind hits Britain for the second time in a week
LONDON (AP) — Trains were canceled, some schools were shut and drivers were stuck for hours on a major highway as a blast of snow and wind hit Britain on Friday for the second time in a week.
The weather system, named Storm Larisa by meteorologists, brought gales and blizzards to much of the country. Alex Burkill, a meteorologist with the Met Office weather agency, said the worst-hit area was northern England and north Wales, where 50 mph (80 kph) wind gusts were accompanied by up to a foot (30 centimeters) of snow.
Some drivers spent more than seven hours in their cars after traffic ground to a halt on the M62 highway that cuts across northern England.
“I saw lots of abandoned sports cars, one Jaguar left on the road with a shovel stuck in the ground next to it and no driver,” said video journalist Richard McCarthy. “There were lots of lorries losing momentum and getting stuck.”
