SNOW and high winds sent a chill across Bolton causing misery for com- muters and dampening any signs of spring.
The severe weather condi- tions were a stark contrast to the balmy temperatures in spring last year which gave us the third warmest March on record.
Yesterday’s blizzards dis- rupted trains and buses across Bolton as well as causing the closure of Rivington and Blackrod High School.
Horwich was the worst affected part of the borough and some buses had to divert their usual route through the Brazley and Old Lord’s estates via Chorley New Road.
Holiday-goers making a dash to sunnier climates for the Easter break experi- enced train delays of up to 20 minutes from Bolton sta- tion to Manchester Airport.
Firefighters were also left disappointed after being forced to call off their charity car wash due to the “terrible” weather.
Geoff Harris, from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue service, said: “It’s a really tough decision to postpone at such short notice — especially when people have put so much time and effort into an event which raises money for a good cause — but it is just not practical to hold the car wash this weekend.”
But Bolton Council remained confident their gritters would rise to the challenging conditions.
Cllr David Chadwick, Bolton Council’s cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “So far we’ve spread something like
5,000 tonnes of salt since the winter started and I’ve got every confidence that our teams of gritters will be up to the task. The only prob- lem might be if snow falls overnight as you need traf- fic to go over the grit to get rid of the snow.”
Radio 1 DJ Sara Cox, talking about snow in Bolton, tweeted: “From what I remember it does snow very well.”
Last March the average temperature was 7.7C — the third warmest ever — out- shone only by 1938 and 1957.