Heaviest snowfall in three decades caused chaos across Horsham District 15 years ago – a look back in photos

The heaviest snowfall in three decades caused chaos across the Horsham area 15 years ago and brought the town to a standstill.

The freezing weather hit West Sussex in the first week of January 2010.

The story was reported in the County Times, on Friday, January 8, 2010. The front page piece by then County Times reporter Tim Harris said that at least six inches of snow fell over the town, with ‘hundreds of schools’ being closed along with shops and businesses.

The article said: “At least six inches of snow, described as the worst for more than 30 years, caused widespread disruption with a series of incidents on the roads and power failures reported across the area. With more snow forecast, Southern Rail, which had prepared for this week’s weather by drawing up a reduced timetable, said ‘severe disruption’ was expected.

“On Wednesday, trains were cancelled on the Arun Valley Line south of Horsham as well as between East Croydon, Oxted, East Grinstead and Uckfield and between Sutton, Epsom and Dorking. There were major delays between Three Bridges, Redhill and Purley. All Compass Travel buses were cancelled on Wednesday, although some services were running on Thursday morning. Metrobus also cancelled all its Horsham services on Wednesday and Thursday. As the first snow began to fall on Tuesday night, police were already warning drivers to expect ‘extremely treacherous’ conditions.”

The article said drivers who needed to travel were advised to take blankets, food, a flask of hot drink and a fully charged mobile phone.

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