Andy Venton reporting.
With a demonstration of the fickleness of the British weather, it won’t have escaped your notice that much of Dorset, and the south-west of England, was covered in a blanket of snow this morning following a forecast of rain and sleet, fairly unusual weather for the extreme south of the county!
And yet, the forecast for Sunday is 14 degrees Celsius, unfortunately to be accompanied by Storm Bert which will bring heavy rain and strong winds.
Some roads became impassable whilst others were “passable with care” and there were a few road accidents which caused traffic tailbacks and road closures.
Tonight the Met Office predict icy conditions and, at the time of writing, the temperature in Dorchester is minus 1 degree Celsius. With the slushy conditions becoming decidedly icy, we advise great care is taken whilst driving.
Whilst the heavy snowfall this morning delighted children, especially with the closure of many Dorset schools, our KeeP 106 presenter Mike Streeter reported that his home village of Corfe Castle “…had about 20 minutes of snow, then the sun came out it was all gone in no time,” whilst, in Weymouth, the KeeP 106 Chairman Andy Worth said: “Went out at 11.45am and horrible wet sleet started, got wet and cold. Look at it now 14.45pm sunny and hardly any clouds. British weather!?!?”
The photos below were taken along the Abbotsbury coast road by Julie and Idris Martin (click an image to enlarge). Idris says “Pictures were taken of the B3157 this afternoon between Abbotsbury Hill and Swyre. The coast road is passable with extreme caution as several abandoned vehicles are en route. If the temperature drops below freezing this evening, the road will resemble an ice rink.”
In one photo it clearly can be seen that the lower-lying land of Weymouth escaped the snowy conditions being that one, or so, degree warmer…
