7:08pm Monday 11th January 2010
By Community Correspondent Enya Jha.
Nearly every town in Surrey has been affected by the terrible snowy weather that hit last week. The forecasted heavy snow showers arrived on Tuesday evening, completely covering the ungritted roads by Wednesday morning, making it almost impossible to get around.
It was evident that the first day of snow was welcomed by many people, due to the number of snowmen that were visible in front gardens, and families sleighing down local hills. However, not long after did the privilege turn to pain, especially as a number of schools in the area were shut on both Wednesday 6th January and Thursday 7th January.
Furthermore, a lot of the buses, including the 466, from Addington Village to Caterham-on-the-Hill, were not running on Wednesday. Some bus routes are still disrupted. This caused havoc, especially as many people found it impossible to travel by car and had no other form of transport.
The widely-forecast snow led to a large number of people buying bread, milk and other necessities in bulk, leaving corner shops, as well as larger stores sold out of these products. Many people had to wait for deliveries to arrive before they could purchase their essential goods, which could take up to hours due to the poor road conditions.
Certain areas have coped with the widespread blizzard-like conditions better than others. Main roads in Croydon are now easy to travel on due to the high traffic. However residential areas are still snowed under, due to the lack of gritting. Other areas which have been terribly badly hit are Caterham, Chipstead and Old Coulsdon, as they consist mainly of small, narrow roads, a lot of which are a great distance from a main road.
Caterham Drive, in Old Coulsdon, is one residential road which has been severely affected by the recent weather. As it lies in a valley, there is no option but to go uphill in order to reach a main road, which has made it very difficult for residents, as very few cars are able to leave their driveways.
“The snow was a bit of a novelty when it first arrived as it was so picturesque, but after a while it turned into a nightmare,” said Dawn Monaghan, a local resident of Addiscombe. “I live on a side road which has made it basically impossible for my car to get onto a main road, and my daughters have had to take time off from school. I work in Caterham and haven’t been able to travel there at all since the snow started. It’s just awful. We’ve been forecasted more snow for the next week or so, but I’ll be glad to see the back of it.”
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