The Met Office had forecasted that a heavy snowfall starting on Saturday evening was likely, with the warning upgraded from yellow to amber during the week.
The warning was in place from 6pm on Saturday, January 4 until noon on Sunday January 5, with some waking up on Sunday morning to find their communities blanketed in snow, while others woke up to roads covered in ice and slush as heavy rainfall was also expected, with a yellow weather warning for rain active from 6am on Sunday until 9pm.
Gritters worked hard overnight to clear many of the main roads in the local area network, ensuring that the roads were passable by 9am on Sunday morning, despite Traffic Wales South advising that some routes remained in hazardous and poor driving conditions, with drivers advised to take extra care when travelling and to only do so if absolutely necessary.
Some aspects of public transport were heavily impacted by the snowfall which turned into slush as a result of the heavy rainfall that followed the snow, with multiple bus services from both Stagecoach and Newport Bus forced to either delay or cancel some services both on Saturday evening and until Sunday lunchtime.
It wasn’t just the public transport that was affected either, some people struggled to drive in more rural areas of Gwent during Saturday evening and into the early hours of Sunday, with some cars slipping on the roads or completely unable to be driven due to the heavy snow.
Sports were also impacted, with many planned football matches under careful consideration due to concerns over pitch safety and subject to pitch inspections before kick off. Newport County’s home match against Morecambe was called off around lunchtime due to parts of the pitch being considered “unplayable”.
Despite the poor weather, many took the chance to have some fun, with furry friends and little ones enjoying the chance to frolic in the snow.
