25 February 2005
More than 250 schools were closed across Scotland this week because of heavy blizzards.
In Fife, 113 schools were closed on February 23 along with a further 90 in Aberdeenshire on the same day. Similarly, Midlothian Council was also forced to close all 48 of its schools in response to the snow.
A spokeswoman for the council, the second smallest mainland authority in Scotland, said it had also been forced to shut council offices early because of snowdrifts of up to ten centimetres.
Other services, including libraries, were also suspended across the country because of the severe weather.
However, it was not only Scotland that was affected. Heavy snow and ice and predictions of temperatures dropping to –8c in places, meant schools in the Northeast of England, Lincolnshire and Kent were also closed.
Earlier in the week, Rob Nicholls, head of street services for Newcastle City Council, said the city had been placed on 'red alert' to deal with the problems caused by the weather.
A 20-year-old man was killed in a sledging accident in nearby Northumberland on Sunday February 20.
Public services across the UK were likely to be disrupted for several more days, as the Met Office warned that the severe weather was forecast to continue.
PFfeb2005
