Express & Star

Midlands weather: Thaw sets in after days of snow - with pictures

Parts of the West Midlands and Staffordshire were wet, misty and foggy today as a gradual thaw set in following the past week's snow.

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Mist and fog are likely during the day

Temperatures were set to reach 6C today, after a Met Office yellow warning for ice expired at 11am.

Most travel services were getting back to normal but there were still problems on some rail and bus routes after days of snow.

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Watch Sunday's weather forecast from the Met Office:

Outbreaks of rain will clear this evening. It will stay cloudy overnight, falling to 0C with the risk of a few more showers and some fog and ice patches developing during the early hours.

On Monday fog and ice patches are expected to clearing during the morning, with some sunny spells developing at times during the day, athough a few showers will also develop, falling as snow over the hills. Temperatures could reach as high as 9C.

Now we can hopefully put the snow shovels away as the temperatures rise.

Wolves’ clash with Reading at Molineux and Villa’s home meeting with QPR will now be rearranged after both were called off in the interests of public safety.

Staff and volunteers worked through the night in a bid to save the game at Molineux, which was scheduled to be broadcast live on Sky Sports.

A stunning photo shows Wolverhampton lit up at night as a result of the staff’s all-night effort.

But the club’s safety team, in conjunction with the Wolves Safety Advisory Group, inspected Molineux and the surrounding area on Saturday morning and deemed it unsafe for the match to go ahead.

Wolves managing director Laurie Dalrymple said: “We would like to place on record our sincere thanks to the hardy volunteers and club staff who worked through the night in a bid to save the game - unfortunately it just wasn’t to be this time.”

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Villa’s home game with QPR has meanwhile been rearranged for Tuesday, March 13, after heavy snowfall on Friday night left the club with no option but to call off the fixture in the interests of public safety.

Tickets already purchased are valid for the new date or supporters can receive a refund excluding booking fee.

It is the first time a Villa home game has been called off due to weather conditions since December 2000.

Aston Villa made a positive from the postponement of their home fixture with Queen’s Park Rangers by donating more than 700 packed lunches to homeless charities.

The food had been prepared ahead of the match for staff who would have been working at Villa Park.

Guy Rippon, head of fundraising and community partnerships at charity the Aston Villa Foundation, said: “We had about 750 lunches, including sandwiches, crisps and pieces of fruit prepared and we didn’t want them to go to waste just because the game was cancelled.

“We put an appeal out on social media and were overwhelmed with the response.”

The lunches were picked up by representatives from organisations including Outreach Angels, the Pashtun Trust and the Salvation Army. The organisations then shared the food further, donating some to the YMCA.

Before the thaw set in, YouTuber Mahyar Latifaltojjar posted this video of Wolverhampton in the snow:

After the coldest start to March on record, which left hundreds stranded on the roads and disruption across the UK’s travel network, there was a slight easing of the extreme conditions at the weekend.

However, forecasters have warned that as rain begins to fall on snow-covered roads, the potential for ice to form could bring further hazards.

Met Office forecaster Greg Dewhurst said: “It won’t feel quite as cold compared to what we’ve seen previously, but the potential for ice could mean roads are very slippery.”

Weather updates for the West Midlands, Staffordshire and Shropshire: