Drivers 'stranded in snow for hours' with 'no sign of gritters and ploughs'

Council chiefs have been responding to criticism over gritting operations after last night’s heavy snowfalls. Driving conditions on roads in northeast Wales were labelled “horrendous” and some drivers were stranded for hours.

Police and traffic officers came in for praise after working through the night to remove stuck vehicles and reopen roads. Their efforts were boosted by 4x4 volunteers who helped clear pathways on the A55 and A483 after the two arterial routes closed following crashes.

With temperatures expected to fall as low as -5C in Flintshire and Wrexham, Traffic Wales has said its gritters will again be out tonight on the region’s trunk roads. A fresh snow and ice alert as been issued for much of North Wales on Wednesday morning - there's more on this here.

READ MORE: Pedestrian struck by truck dies despite desperate bid to save him

READ MORE: Met Office issues new 12-hour snow and ice warning

Farmers also joined in by clearing some minor roads. Local authorities have insisted they are working non-stop to keep priority routes clear on county roads, but questions have been asked about the state of treated and untreated surfaces. Several drivers took to social media last night to wonder why more gritters or snow ploughs hadn’t been deployed.

One woman detailed how she took three hours to travel from Marford to Mold, another posted while still stuck at 1am after 90 minutes of being stranded. A driver labelled road preparations as “abysmal”.

The North Wales 4x4 Response Group, which deployed two teams of four volunteers, were among those who came to the rescue. Spokesperson Leigh Ryder said: “We took two ladies home at 2am after they broke down on the A55 near Holywell. They’d been there for hours. The ladies were very happy to get a lift from us while they waited for their car to be recovered.”

Leigh said the A55 at Dobs Hill was a major pinch point as the road descended towards Broughton. HGVs skidded and jackknifed to block the road, and these needed towing before stranded cars could be removed. After working from 8pm-3am, volunteers were back out at 5am ferrying NHS staff to work. Join the North Wales Live Whatsapp community now

Cllr Terry Evans, lead member for environment at Wrexham Council, said its staff had also worked tirelessly in difficult conditions. He said: “Our gritting crews were out yesterday evening from 6pm, and continued to work throughout the night to ensure that the priority routes on our road network were kept as clear as possible.

“We are still working hard today to ensure these routes are kept clear as the snow has continued to fall. We are also being assisted in rural areas by agricultural and ploughing contractors.

“Throughout the night and this morning, the team received a number of calls about fallen trees and other damage – which they assess and prioritise in order of safety. During the night we cleared over 20 fallen trees, and were on hand to assist with a number of cars and lorries that had got stuck overnight.”

Earlier today, Flintshire Council said it had 13 gritters ploughing and salting the county network. These were supplemented by two tractor gritters and five contract ploughs.

By 11am, more than 315 tonnes of salt has been spread on priority routes in Flintshire. These run to 560km, accounting for around 45% of the county’s highways. Some 20 staff were also hand-salting town centres and near sheltered accommodation. In addition, two council crews were clearing trees and branches brought down by the weight of snow.

The conditions forced the closure of dozens of schools. A total of 66 were shut in Flintshire, and 46 in Wrexham. A further seven were closed or part-closed in Denbighshire. The full list is here.

Thirteen areas of northeast Wales were affected by power cuts overnight, most of which were restored by 3pm. One of the biggest outages was in the Borras Park area of Wrexham, where 63 postcodes were left without power. Four postcodes near Chirk are still without power, with services due to be restored by 5pm.

Other victims of the cold spell included Mold Leisure Centre, which was forced to close due to a “major water pipe leak”. It’s expected to re-open tomorrow (Wednesday, November 20).

Mold Cemetery was also closed today and should reopen tomorrow. Business closures included The Sun Trevor near Llangollen, which lost its power. Wrexham Council has announced its green bin collections will be suspended on Wednesday, November 20, "due to the difficult conditions".

Bus and train services were affected. Due the weather, buses are running instead of trains for a second successive day between Llandudno and Blaenau Ffestiniog. Fallen trees blocked rail lines between Wrexham General, Chester and Shrewsbury, disrupting services today. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox

Find the weather forecast where you live