Snow, Freezing Fog, Black Ice, and a Heart-Warming Story

Across England millions are facing problems caused by snow, freezing fog and black ice, a day after snow disrupted many parts of the UK.

|PIC1|Snow has fallen in Bristol and parts of Wiltshire, with more forecast for the West Country, the Midlands and Wales. Freezing fog and patches of black ice have formed in areas which saw heavy snow on Thursday.

More than 2,000 schools across England and Wales were closed on Thursday and many are remaining shut.

Disruption caused by the thick blanket of snow on Thursday is thought to have cost hundreds of millions of pounds, as Britain tried in vein to prevent the weather from affecting its running.

But in the midst of all the chaos and disruption, in Hereford six gritters did not allow the freezing weather to stop them from carrying out a good deed.

The six gritter workmen offered their help to mourners who were struggling to reach a church for a funeral on Thursday due to the heavy snowfall, The Church of England Newspaper reports.

The men from the gritter lorry were just about to clear the road between Hereford and Abergavenny, when they heard that mourners for the funeral of local woman Rose Evans were having difficulty reaching the church in the village of Allensmore. Immediately, they made a detour and cleared the road to the church, which is two kilometres from the main road.

"It is such a kind thing for them to do," said the Rev Canon Maureen Palmer, who was officiating at the funeral, according to the CofE newspaper.

"Rose Evans was a very popular and well known person in Allensmore and we were expecting an overfull church so this made it so much easier for everyone. Obviously the family are Allensmore people through and through so the whole village was likely to turn out for Rose's service."

Canon Palmer concluded: "The action of the men from the gritter lorry is a real act of kindness for all of us."