The big shutdown 22 Mar 2013: Sellafield closed, A595 blocked south of Calderbridge

Take extreme care if you are travelling today.

As of mid-day in the part of Whitehaven where I live the only noteworthy thing about the weather is that it is cold. however, in many other parts of Cumbria snow and high winds are causing havoc.

As mentioned the A595 is closed south of Calderbridge. It is blocked at Waberthwaite and Bootle   due to snow and the A686 Hartside Pass, both ways between Alston and Melmerby, is closed.

Snow ploughs, a JCB and gritter are all on the way to assist those stuck, say Copeland police, who add that the roads cannot be cleared effectively due to abandoned cars. Police are also currently dealing with a heavy goods vehicle that has reportedly been blown over on the A66 eastbound close to Bassenthwaite, a few miles from the Pheasant Inn.

Police said the A66 at Stainmore is also closed and the A595 and A5092 towards Millom is inaccessible. The M6 Hackthorpe to Shap is passable with care.

Sellafield are evacuating their non-essential workforce as a precaution: a Site Incident has been declared and the plants have been moved safely to a controlled, shut down state.

Cumbria police have set up a ‘Gold Group’ at their headquarters in Penrith to monitor the response to a number of incidents across the county and the developing situation in case the weather becomes worse. The group is meeting regularly to ensure the safety of the public is maintained during the severe weather conditions. They are advising motorists not to travel unless it is essential.

My children's school openend normally this morning but I have just heard that they are finishing early this afternoon. Schools in Cumbria closed or finishing early include:

  • Bassenthwaite school (due to snow and no electricity)
  • Black Combe juniors, Millom
  • Broughton in Furness
  • Captain Shaw School, Bootle
  • Gosforth CE school
  • Grasmere primary school
  • Stainburn CE Primary, Penrith
  • Haverigg nursery
  • Haverigg primary
  • Hawkshead Esthwaite primary
  • Ireby CE
  • Ireleth St Peter's
  • John Ruskin school, Coniston
  • Keswick school
  • Lowther Endowed School, Hackthorpe
  • Millom infant
  • Newbridge House PRU
  • Park View nursery, Millom
  • Patterdale CE school
  • Penruddock primary
  • St Bega's Primary, Eskdale Green
  • St James' Catholic primary, Millom
  • Seascale primary
  • Shap Endowed
  • Thwaites School, near Millom
  • Waberthwaite

    • Comments

    Jim said…
    its been quite odd, At home this morning it was cold, yeah, and it still is, but that's about it.
    It was so strange once you were south of Bigrigg, then snow and really strong winds started hitting.

    As always I finished work at normal Friday time (12:30 or so) and again on the way home Bigrigg seemed to be the cut off point.

    I can only assume people in Egremont are more likely to have the home insulated, so use less power and have less "Global Warming" than we have. :)
    5:25 pm
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