Children, ponies and dogs enjoy the snow....with more forecast!

Tuesday 27 February 2018

More snow is forecast with an orange weather warning remaining in place for the Bailiwick of Guernsey.

Alderney has so far had the most snow with an estimated 8cm falling at Alderney Airport on Monday night, into Tuesday morning. Around 1cm fell at Guernsey Airport at the same time but deeper snow was recorded later on Tuesday morning at Grandes Rocques.

Pictured: Tim sent us this photo of the snow fall at Grandes Rocques on the morning of Tuesday 27 February, 2018 

With occasional snow flurries throughout the day some has accumulated, although large parts of Guernsey are completely bare with just some residual slush or no evidence of any snow fall at all. There could be more on the way with the Met Office again saying we could see heavier snow fall on Thursday 1 March.

Snow warning issued for Guernsey at 0917 UTC on 27/02/2018. pic.twitter.com/8yOpo7CCmO

— CI Weather Warnings (@Jersey_MetCI) February 27, 2018

For now, pets and owners are enjoying the winter weather. Emma Mauger's pony was wrapped up warm against the cold weather, while her children; Ellie and Sam, were helping to care for the animals during their unexpected day off school.

Pictured: Faith the pony

Pictured: Ellie and Sam Mauger enjoying their 'snow day' off school

Snowmen have been appearing across the island where the flurries have accumulated. Jess Mauger lives near Vazon with her family. Her daughter was enjoying her first snow day, playing in the garden.

Pictured: The Mauger family snowman 

For some children this will be the first snow fall they've experienced. It was forecast to be the most snow fall in the Bailiwick since March 2013, although so far conditions have not reached that extent. Temperatures are forecast to remain around freezing with Guernsey Met predicting temperatures reaching a maximum of 1°C (feels like -4°C) overnight with a minimum of -3°C (feels like -10°C). However, the band of snow currently sitting over the islands is expected to move north, and away from us, this evening.

The snow showers over Guernsey and Alderney are becoming more patchy and are expected to move further north to clear the islands this evening. pic.twitter.com/h3s1U89tHI

— Guernsey Met (@GuernseyMet) February 27, 2018

A number of public facilities have taken the decision to close today due to the further snow forecast. 

Castle Cornet is now closed all week, while Beau Sejour closed early at 14:45 with the cancellation of all later classes and swimming lessons. 

The majority of services provided by the Committee for Health and Social Care are running as normal. HSC has its own service continuity arrangements for staff which have been put into action during the wintry conditions.

Other public and private facilities and services have also been cancelled.

Street Sports Update pic.twitter.com/4gCWT5rk3b

— Guernsey Sports (@GuernseySports) February 27, 2018

All States run schools and the College of FE sites are closed, along with Blanchelande College. Elizabeth and Ladies colleges chose to open as normal although some students left school early. With further snow forecast for Wednesday, going into Thursday, decisions will be made on whether the schools can reopen as the conditions are assessed.

There was some confusion on Tuesday morning when initial attempts to open some schools were reversed and all States run schools and College of FE sites remained shut.

The Chief Secretary for Education, Sport & Culture said any attempts to open were made with "the very best of intentions" and despite an "overview of the decisions" being publicly announced at 07:20, during the following 30 minutes the position "changed considerably" with snow starting to fall across several areas, meaning road conditions worsened and "as such some schools previously judged to be safe to open were then determined as unsafe." 

Gus Paterson, the Chief Secretary to the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture, said:

"We have a fantastic team of staff who were committed to try and open schools wherever possible. That was the starting point this morning as inspections were carried out at schools throughout the island. However, as the morning progressed the picture continually changed and it became increasingly clear that a more appropriate decision would be to close all States schools today.

"I took that decision following discussions with staff and after taking advice from Guernsey Police, which said road users should exercise extreme caution. By 07:45 we also had the benefit of some reports from staff travelling in to our sites and it was clear that the conditions on our roads were difficult.

"I am conscious that any decision to close schools can cause disruption for parents, many of whom will need to make alternative arrangements for their children, and especially as that decision came later than we would have liked. We do not feel the effects of snowfall in Guernsey often and when it comes it impacts the whole community. As such we hope businesses will have been able to provide their staff with much-needed flexibility today.

"I fully appreciate that the explanation regarding the decision-making will come as little solace to anyone disrupted by the changing picture this morning, but the initial attempts to make appropriate decisions at each school site were done with the best of intentions. We are reviewing our processes today with further wintry weather forecast."

With that in mind, a decision on whether any schools will open on Wednesday 28 February will be made "in due course".

Pictured: Spot the dog! Max the Springer Spaniel playing in the snow on Grandes Rocques bay on Tuesday 27 February 2018 

Pictured top: 10-month-old Oliver Jackson enjoying his first snow