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The snow storms that have already brought chaos to Britain could continue until the end of the week, according to forecasters who have issued severe weather warnings for half of the country.
Experts at the Met Office predicted that much of Devon and Cornwall would wake up to up to 25cm of snow, while the southeast of England, London and much of the Midlands and Wales will see yet more snow having been the worst hit on Monday and Tuesday NZT.
The predictions followed another day in which much of Britain again battled against problems brought about by the snow. About 10,000 schools across Britain have been closed since Monday, including almost every school in the nation's biggest cities, London and Birmingham. As well, an estimated 6.4 million people - one fifth of the country's workforce - have failed to turn up to work as transport systems ground to a halt.
The disruption had been limited mainly to the southeast of the country, but, yesterday, the north of England, and Yorkshire, in particular, bore the brunt of the snow, with up to 35cm falling across the Pennines. The weather forced the closure of 560 schools in the county, including all 197 in Bradford, and the closure of four main roads.
Questions were asked about whether the disruption caused to schools and businesses could have been avoided. It is estimated that more than two million children enjoyed another day off school yesterday. Margaret Morrissey, of the Parents Outloud campaign group, said that the decision to close so many schools was setting a bad example to children.
"We are giving children the message that when things get difficult you should just stay at home and have fun," she said. "Then, when they keep taking sick days from work when they grow up we wonder why."
David Frost, the director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said that the disruption would cost Britain "a lot of money" - some economists said the first day's chaos alone cost the country's economy 1.2 billion ($3.8 billion), with that figure expected to rise to 3 billion if, as it is expected, the snow continues until the end of the week. "One of the world's biggest economies should not be grinding to a halt. We shouldn't just buckle to it [the snow]," he said.
The disruption to transport also continued. At Heathrow, more than 100 flights were cancelled, adding to the 868 that were put off on the first day - a decision that forced more than 700 people to sleep there overnight.
Further north it was the roads that caused most of the problems. In Yorkshire the trans-Pennine A66 was closed for a second day. That disruption was mirrored across the country and the AA said it dealt with more than 3000 breakdown calls yesterday.
Train services were affected with delays to the East Coast Main Line and nine services between London and Leeds cancelled.
- INDEPENDENT
