Snow day!

As the Welshpool area clears up after Storm Goretti’s heavy snow dump last night, we say a huge thank-you to the MyWelshpool readers that helped to keep us safe!

Council staff and emergency workers faced one of their most challenging nights of the winter so far, with plenty of snow falling until the early hours when it turned to sleet and rain.

The forecasters were again spot on as a blanket of snow covered the area by about 7pm, but we want to praise our readers that responded to our first ‘rolling weather/conditions report’ on Facebook.

We asked readers from 5pm, when the yellow warning came into effect, to share their own experiences that they had faced out there, and dozens answered the call by highlighting issues including cars being stuck, roads that became impassable as well as power cuts.

Red Bank was soon identified as a no-go zone, as well as side roads that hadn’t been gritted.

We were even made aware that vegetables were becoming scarce in Tesco and then, as the conditions eased through the night, that roads beyond our area north were clear.

Early indications tell us that Lake Vyrnwy received 16cms of snow – the nearest recording we can find as official snow observations are quite limited across the UK.

While temperatures hovered just below zero officially, with the wind chill they were showing as low as -11° in Guilsfield.

Seventy-three schools are closed in Powys today, a decision prompted by the county council announcing yesterday afternoon that all school transport would be suspended.

All trains through Welshpool are cancelled this morning but they are showing for this afternoon, so please check before travelling. Birmingham Airport has reopened but on a reduced basis.

Overall though, thanks in part to the teamwork of our community journalists we appear to have seen off Storm Gorreti a lot better compared to other areas.

The Amber weather warning has just expired so we are still on a Yellow warning until noon today (Friday).

The advice remains in place to travel only if necessary while the road conditions improve through the day.

Looking ahead we may experience some light snow later, but overall the coming few days look clear, although tomorrow we could see temperatures drop to as low as -5°.

PICTURE: This image of Brookfield Road in Welshpool was posted to the rolling Facebook feed by Kate Pascoe, who wrote: "We pushed a car up Brookfield Road onto Red Bank an hour ago and advised another person not to travel to Newtown as people walking said they had abandoned cars on Red Bank. Be safe everyone.