South Pembrokeshire has been thawing out after its big winter freeze.
Much of the area came to a standstill last week when the county was covered in a thick white blanket of snow.
While it created a picture postcard scene in many locations, it brought chaos to the roads and disrupted local services.
And those problems continued this week with fresh snowfall on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Although much of South Pembrokeshire fortunately escaped this week's wintry showers, some inland areas saw several inches of snow.
Road surface temperatures remained at around or just below freezing which allowed ice and snow to remain, causing hazardous driving conditions. Drifting also caused havoc.
Tenby's weather recorder, Trisha Putwain recorded -7.9 last Thursday night, which was a new low for her, but said temperatures had shot up to +3 or even +4 maximum when we spoke to her on Wednesday.
"People may be registering even lower temperatures in their cars, but mine is in a screen sheltered by louvred sides, so it avoids the extremes of wind chill which lowers temperatures and sunshine which raises them." she explained.
Road conditions were particularly poor in the north of the county, which appears to have borne the brunt of the worst weather.
Roads were closed due to drifts and new snowfall overnight on Tuesday.
Carmarthenshire County Council reported that two gritters with ploughs mounted were dispatched, together with two JCB tractors, to deal accumulations which included the Login area.
All Trunk roads and A roads were open on Wednesday morning, reported Pembrokeshire County Council, but motorists were urged to be cautious.
On the A478, between Penblewin and Cardigan, snow ploughs were keeping the road clear at one time, but it was down to single lane traffic in some areas where there were hazardous driving conditions. A snow blower was also sent to Pentregalar (near Crymych) to help when the road was down to one lane.
Tavernspite and Llanteg area also experienced problems with drifting snow.
The B4314 from Robeston Wathen to Narberth, meanwhile, was closed for a time.
Police received a report at approximately 8.15 am that a collision had occurred between a bus, lorry and tractor.
"The road was completely blocked and treacherous," said a police spokeswoman.
"When officers attended, it was established that there was no collision; the bus had in fact stopped to let the lorry pass and got stuck and the bus was damaged as a tractor tried to pull it out of a ditch."
Nobody was on the bus at the time.
Elsewhere, agricultural contractors were used to assist clear minor roads.
As far as public transport was concerned, main coastal buses continued running, but there were some disruptions to services.
Buses to Greenhill School also ran 30 minutes late and did not go to Kilgetty and Saundersfoot.
A total of 15 schools, mainly in the north of the county, were shut.
Council refuse collections were operating on clear roads only and social care did not report any problems with carers. Day centres were all open.
Primary routes were due to treated with pre-salting on Wednesday night and yesterday (Thursday morning).
Yesterday (Thursday), the council's contact centre opened at 7.30 am for schools to report in only if closed.
Ysgol Y Preseli was closed apart for pupils taking exams, while some primary schools, including Brynconin were due to open at 10 am.
Carmarthenshire County Council reported some of the buses running to Dyffryn Taf from the most western parts of the county had operated only on main roads.
The mobile library would be going to Meidrim and St. Clears only, and not going to outlying villages.
As the thaw continued, highest temperatures were expected to range from around 1 Celsius in many eastern areas, but would rise to around 5 Celsius in the west as a south-westerly breeze developed.
Comments
This article has no comments yet. Be the first to leave a comment.