North Yorkshire weather warnings – school and road closures

Winter weather closed 46 schools in North Yorkshire today (January 6) and a second weather warning for ice has been put in place.

The school closures – which included schools in Goathland, Whitby, Richmond and York – mostly took place in coastal areas, where heavy snow has laid, with some inland schools also affected.

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On the list was Millthorpe School in South Bank, which announced that it would not be opening for pupils on Tuesday as it did not have a working water supply.

In a message to parents and carers, the secondary school said: “Without running water, we are unable to provide a safe environment for pupils and staff. We are monitoring the situation and will update parents as soon as we have further news about when the water supply is expected to be restored.

“We understand that this closure may cause inconvenience and apologise for the short notice. We did not receive any notification of the problem nor any indication of when it would be resolved. Thank you for your understanding and continued support.”

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has extended its amber cold health alert across the region until Sunday (January 11) with Dr Agostinho Sousa, head of extreme events and health protection at UKHSA, urging people to check in on vulnerable friends, family and neighbours.

He said: “The forecast temperatures can have a serious impact on the health of some people, leading to increased risk of heart attacks, strokes and chest infections, particularly for individuals over the age of 65 and those with pre-existing health conditions.”

A second weather warning has also been issued by the Met Office for ice, starting from midnight tonight and set to last until 10am tomorrow morning, which includes York, North Yorkshire, and most of England.

A spokesperson said: “Following a band of precipitation which clears southeast overnight, clear skies will develop for many areas on Tuesday night will lead to icy patches on untreated wet surfaces. This could lead to some minor disruption especially on Wednesday morning.”

Roads have also been closed across the region and North Yorkshire Council said its gritting crews have been out attempting to make them safer for drivers to travel on.

They added: “Please take extra care when travelling and drive according to the road conditions. Remember, gritting doesn’t guarantee an ice‑ or snow‑free surface.

“Enough traffic needs to drive over a gritted road to grind the salt in and activate it. Only then will the melting process begin. Any fresh snow will land on a gritted surface.”

North Yorkshire Council also said it was unable to collect all waste and recycling bins in the Scarborough and Whitby areas on Saturday due to the weather with residents asked to leave their bins out for collection if they had not been collected already.