It's business as usual - sort of - in the snowiest town in Britain
The Gloucestershire council workers are working very hard to keep things going
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The snowiest place in Britain today was officially a tiny Cotswold village – Little Rissington in Gloucestershire, once famous as its local airfield was the home of the RAF display team, the Red Arrows.
The Met Office said that after another snowfall last night, 30 centimetres of snow – fractionally under twelve inches – were lying in the area, which made it the deepest lying snow so far of 2013, exceeding the next two snowiest places, both much further north.
Aboyne on Deeside in the Scottish Highlands was lying under 27 centimetres of snow today, while, Redesdale Camp in Northumbria had 26.
The conditions in the Little Rissington area were causing difficulties for residents, said Cotswold District Councillor Sheila Jeffrey. “I thought I would be able to get my car out today but I can’t,” she said. “I had a friend from Upper Rissington ring me today to say they’d spent a long time trying to dig their car out but they’d have to give up.”
She said that Gloucestershire County Council workers had been striving to clear and grit the roads around the region. “They’re working very hard to keep things going,” she said.
Upper Rissington, next to the former RAF airfield, is the site of most local housing, with a population of 1,000, and in its Co-Op stores, the deputy manager John Hogan said that customers were coming in for bags of coal and bags of grit, but they were still coming in. “We’re cracking on and it’s business as usual,” he said.
Justine Coussins, barwoman at the 300-year-old Lamb pub in nearby Great Rissington, said that eleven inches of snow were lying on an outside table. Bus services had stopped coming through the village this morning, she said, but had subsequently resumed, although the local school was closed.
Despite log fires and a very popular pheasant and smokey bacon pie, trade was down, she said, as most of the people coming in were locals who had stayed away from work because of the conditions.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments