Gritters out as snowfall returns in West Midlands

Deep snow remains in many parks across Birmingham

Gritters have been out again in the West Midlands as snowfall returned to many areas.

Birmingham City Council said gritters had gone out on Sunday and urged anyone travelling to take extra care.

The council has started to announce school closures for Monday on Twitter.

Snow showers are expected overnight, mainly in the north of the region. Cold temperatures, frost and ice is also expected, with a minimum temperature of -5 °C.

Birmingham was among places which saw snowfall on Sunday.

'Flight delays'

The city council said as well as roads it had also treated "priority footways".

Birmingham Airport was open for most of Sunday until the evening when it was forced to close for two hours and flights were temporarily diverted.

Other travel operators also warned people to expect some disruption because of the conditions.

A Chiltern Railways statement said the predicted "significant snowfall" may cause problems.

"We will be running our regular timetable, but there is a risk we may experience delays and short notice cancellations," a statement said.

'Snow Champions'

London Midland said it planned to operate all timetabled services on Sunday.

Wolverhampton City Council cancelled all sports fixtures due to take place on its park pitches over the weekend because of conditions and the forecasted snow.

Meanwhile, Birmingham's Heartlands Hospital, which put out a call for help from 4x4 drivers to help transport staff, said it had been "overwhelmed" by the response.

"We have received more than 80 calls from owners of 4X4 vehicles from across the region - everywhere from Stourbridge and Tamworth through to Kenilworth and Alvechurch," a spokesperson said.

"We would like to thank all volunteers for their generosity during this challenging weather and would like to confirm we now have all our transportation covered."

Meanwhile, "snow champions", who are part of a volunteer snow-clearing scheme set up Sandwell Council, have been out clearing footways around the area.