Paisley transformed into winter wonderland

Dec 23 2009 by Alison Rennie, Paisley Daily Express

PAISLEY was transformed into a winter wonderland yesterday with heavy snow showers falling all afternoon.

While youngsters celebrated stopping school for their festive break by playing in the snow, others were slip sliding away in the town centre.

Snowmen started appearing in gardens across Renfrewshire and there was enough left over for plenty of good-natured snowball fights.

The flurries started at noon and didn’t stop all day. Shoppers getting some last-minute gifts for Christmas sheltered inside the Piazza and Paisley Centre while the more adventurous took their chances on the slippy pavements.

The snow fell lightly at first then became heavier starting to lie on roads and paths.

Met Office spokesperson Barry Gromett said it was unlikely there will be snow in Paisley today as it would be falling mainly on the coast and in the north west of Scotland.

He added: “Things would have dried out last night with showers becoming far fewer and confined to the coast.

“Today is largely a dry day with one or two showers expected in the Paisley area. The snow is expected to lie in higher areas.

“Tomorrow, Christmas Eve, the temperature will stay cold, around zero degrees in the morning, but a milder weather front is coming up from the south which will see temperatures rise.

“It will be into the afternoon before things get milder and the temperature will be around five or six degrees. No snow is expected there but it depends how much we get rid of over the next few days. There may well be some snow still lying because the temperature isn’t expected to get above freezing until Thursday afternoon.”

Council gritters have been out in force since the cold snap hit earlier last weekend.

A spokesperson for Renfrewshire Council said: “Our gritters have been working continuously since the weekend.

“On Tuesday we had 60 officers out clearing footways and we were also going into side roads.

“However with the heavy snowfall beginning again on Tuesday afternoon we have had to focus on the main roads again.

“The forecast is for the bad conditions to continue so we will be working on a 24 hour basis until the situation is under control.

“We would ask all drivers to take extra care on the roads during this time.”

While the cold weather hits Renfrewshire, folk are urged to look out for their elderly friends and neighbours.

Andrew Harrop, Head of Policy at Age Concern and Help the Aged, said: “With temperatures set to drop below zero in some parts of the country over the next few days, we are urging vulnerable older people, who are more susceptible to the cold, to take extra precautions to stay warm and keep active.”