Wales snow: Amber 'be prepared' warning of heavy falls

The Met Office has upgraded its weather warning for Wales after heavy snow brought disruption to roads and nearly 500 schools on Tuesday.

An amber "be prepared" warning is in place until 09:00 GMT on Wednesday.

Up to 10cm (4in) is possible with the south eastern counties again the most likely to see heavy localised falls.

There have been major traffic delays on roads in south Wales and Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) council will not run school transport on Wednesday.

RCT also announced that a number of schools will not open on Wednesday.

Snow fell first across southern eastern areas of Wales, and also spread further west to Carmarthenshire on its border with Pembrokeshire.

Up to 16cm (6in) of snow fell at Sennybridge, Powys, shortly after it began snowing at around 04:00 GMT.

Traffic Wales reported that most major trunk roads were passable with care, although there were hazardous driving conditions on the A470 between the M4 at junction 32, the Coryton interchange at Cardiff, and Merthyr Tydfil.

The A48 Cowbridge bypass was closed in both directions with hazardous driving conditions due to snow between Darren Hill and Primrose Hill, but later reopened. The Caerphilly mountain road from Cardiff was also shut for a period on Tuesday morning.

Arriva Trains Wales services for Cardiff and Valley lines faced disruption at short notice.

Bus firm Stagecoach saw a number of its services disrupted in Torfaen, Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent, but the company said later that all its buses in the Caerphilly area were running normally.

Cardiff Bus announced changes to some of its services.

Local authorities have said they are working hard to keep important routes open.

Vale of Glamorgan council said gritting lorries had worked through the night "but fresh snowfall today meant salting operations were not as effective as the team would have liked".

Meanwhile, Torfaen council enlisted the help of an Elvis impersonator to make a comical video highlighting the work of its gritting teams to the tune of In The Ghetto. This version, on the council's website, is called In The Depot.

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board cancelled some outpatient appointments on advice from the Welsh Ambulance Service and South Wales Police on likely weather and road conditions with more snow forecast.

Genuine emergencies

Any patient relying on the ambulance service for transport in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan on Tuesday afternoon had their appointment cancelled and will be contacted for it to be rescheduled. All outpatient appointments for Wednesday are also cancelled.

The Welsh Ambulance Service again asked the public to use its service only when necessary.

It has been active during the deteriorating weather with 4x4 vehicles operating in areas vulnerable to adverse conditions, but a spokeswoman said fewer calls would ensure that genuine emergencies can be attended to appropriately.

Croesyceiliog Football Club was forced to cancel an evening with Wales manager Chris Coleman due to the travelling conditions.

Even skiers were disrupted, when Torfaen council said Pontypool ski slope was closing three hours early - at 18:00 GMT - to allow staff to get home because of the poor weather forecast.

The Met Office says a second band of snow showers may work its way into Wales from south west England later bringing renewed heavy but intermittent snowfall.

Northern and western parts of Wales can expect to escape more snow on Tuesday, seeing only rain and possibly brighter skies.

Councils are advising parents to check their websites for details of school closures in their areas.