More snow on the way

The first snowy weekend of the winter helped to bring a festive flavour to Norwich - with forecasters predicting the cold snap to continue and more snow on the way.

John Law, of Weatherquest at the University of East Anglia, said temperatures yesterday were freezing in Norwich and as low as -2C in Marham in west Norfolk during the day, dropping to -4C and -5C overnight.

He said: 'Through the rest of this week it will be staying very cold with more snow on the way.

'We will see snow showers on Monday and through Monday night to Tuesday, when more persistent and organised areas of snow will be feeding in from the north.

'Winds will be easterly as we head through Tuesday and Wednesday, so with more snow it will feel really quite cold. It's all going to add up to quite a significant acculmulation.'

But there were plenty of people out and about enjoying the snow - walking their dogs in the park, snowballing and building snowmen - just having fun.

Norwich City fans at the derby match with Ipswich had much to keep them jumping around as the Canaries triumphed over the Tractor Boys on a perfect green pitch thanks to Carrow Road's undersoil heating.

The freezing weekend weather brought problems, with traffic stuggling to get about in Norwich city centre on Saturday morning in particular.

While the gritters had been out Friday night and in the early hours of Saturday, a snowstorm put a fresh layer across the city and prompted police to close some of Norwich's steeper roads, like Thorn Lane, which were just too icy and dangerous.

A Norwich City Council spokesman said: 'Our gritters were out from early Friday evening and during the early hours of Saturday morning gritting the main roads in and around the city. We will carry on doing this through the icy weather to make conditions as safe as possible and to keep trafic in and out of Norwich moving.

'However, as snow continues to fall, conditions on the roads are going to be difficult and we would urge people to be cautious.'

The Larking Gowen City of Norwich half-marathon was a casualty of the weather, with organisers of postponing the run due to icy conditions.

Race director Hugh McGill said the decision had been taken for the safety of runners and spectators but the race would be rescheduled for the New Year.

He said on Saturday: 'On arrival on the course we've encountered heavy snowfall which is compacting into ice, and with temperatures of -3C to -5C expected overnight we know that won't clear.'

The snow also shut Norwich International airport on Saturday morning and it opened around 8.30am only to close again soon after following fresh snowfall.

Snow-clearing vehicles were deployed and following the de-icing of the runway the airport opened again at 11.30am, with just one flight to Amsterdam cancelled while the rest were delayed.

*For the latest on weather and traffic conditions around the county, log on to www.eveningnews24.co.uk.