DRIFTING snow has led to road closures and stranded vehicles as the bitter weather maintains its icy grip on the dale.
Despite the snowfall easing off this afternoon (March 1), strong easterly winds are causing snow to drift from farmland onto roads.
The B6278 from Stanhope to Eggleston has been closed – as has the B6277 and the B6276 from the dale into Cumbria.
Durham County Council has also shut the back road from St John’s Chapel to Langdon Beck as well as the Westgate to Newbiggin route.
The A66 remains closed.
Scarlet Band bus company attempted to run two services at lunchtime today.
The number 85 from Barnard Castle to Bishop Auckland is running but efforts to restore a service from Barnard Castle to Middleton-in-Teesdale were not successful.
Windswept snow forced the bus to turn back on its way up the dale before it eventually got stuck in a drift.
A spokesperson for Scarlet Band said: “Our prime concern is safety – we will not put our buses out if there is undue risk.
“Scarlet Band has a good reputation for running services and we will not take any chances with our passengers.”
The firm will look at whether to run services tomorrow at 7am once conditions have been reassessed.
Meanwhile, many householders will have to wait another fortnight for their bins to be collected after authority refuse crews were forced back by the weather.
A spokesperson for the county council said it would not be able to catch up on missed collections this week due to the number of properties affected and the prospect of more poor weather in the coming days.
However, the authority has promised any additional waste accumulated will be collected in a fortnight’s time.
Oliver Sherratt, the council’s head of direct services, said: “Our crews are working extremely hard to carry out their rounds but unfortunately the unprecedented and prolonged snowfall is making it very difficult for us to access many areas across the county.
“We are now asking people to put their bins out only on their next normal collection day and keep to the calendar of refuse or recycling in your area.
“We realise that this will mean extra waste or recycling in a fortnight’s time and we will be deploying additional resources to ensure it is picked up during that week.
“We would like to thank people for their patience and apologise for inconvenience.”
The household waste and recycling centre in Middleton-in-Teesdale is also closed and others further afield opening later than normal.
Council staff have asked dale folk to ring ahead and check whether leisure centres and libraries are open.
Parents have also been pointed to the county council’s social media feeds to check whether schools will reopen tomorrow.
Motorists are still being advised to only drive if necessary and with great care.
Worries over power cuts due to ice and snow have triggered Northern Powergrid to release advice.
The company has warned people not approach damaged cables and to report them by calling 105.
A Northern Powergrid spokesperson added: “This includes overhead lines that may be hit by line icing, which can cause power lines that are still energised to sag under the weight of accumulated snow and ice.”
Icicles have formed on a number of homes from Startforth to Evenwood and there have reports of eight feet high drifts near Copley and Butterknowle.
Phil Hughes, who lives on the A66 near Bowes, said he’s had five feet high drifts on his drive and a foot of snow covering most of his land.
He said: “The snowploughs stopped ploughing yesterday and I’ve been told they won’t be working today either. Cumbria haven’t ploughed their side either.
“This morning I spoke to a Ukrainian, an English and a Lithuanian driver and told them the road was unlikely to open before Saturday if it continued to snow and gave them directions to get to Manchester and the south ports.
“None of them had a map but relied on their sat navs.
“The Lithuanian decided to wait at the front of the queue and all he was short of were cigarettes.
“I told him about the Unicorn and Bowes Social Club where he could get some.”
The Met Office are forecasting more light showers this evening in Teesdale with the chance of the odd heavier burst.
Temperatures are likely to fall to -3C overnight in Barnard Castle with more light snow showers being touted for tomorrow (March 2).
An amber “be prepared” warning will remain in force until 10am tomorrow and a yellow “be aware” warning is in effect until Saturday (March 3).
A slow thaw is expected later in the weekend and early next week.
Precipitation radar which updates every five minutes can be viewed at: https://www.netweather.tv/live-weather/radar
