Winter Maintenance Team
The Cardiff area is now out of the Met Office Amber Weather Warning and has moved into yellow. Conditions, however, remain extremely difficult and we are aware of continued cancellations to public transport.
Our highways crews will continue to grit and plough for the rest of the evening and through the night. Thanks to their efforts the major arterial routes in Cardiff are moving, but driving conditions remain very difficult.
Our crews had to drive in very hazardous conditions today and in freezing rain and blizzard-like weather last night.
Gritter, snow ploughs have been deployed (this only occurs when snow is over 4-5cm deep) but even with this action, roads will continue to be extremely difficult to navigate throughout the evening and through the night, therefore we recommend you drive only in essential cases.
It's important to note that severe weather of the sort we witnessed limits the impact of gritting, but despite the Red Weather warning there were no large volumes of stranded vehicles across the network and people who ventured out were able to reach home safely.
A LandRover and trailer is being used to grit the internal roads in Heath Hospital to ensure the emergency services can gain access.
Forecasts suggest that primary roads in the city will recover tomorrow as the road temperature rises. The secondary routes and tertiary routes - in our residential areas - will take longer to recover. However, by Sunday evening it is anticipated that snow in the city will be limited, unless the weather forecast changes significantly.
You can view the city's grittingrouteshere https://www.cardiff.gov.uk/ENG/resident/Parking-roads-and-travel/Winter-maintenance/Pages/Winter-maintenance.aspx
As of tomorrow, the Neighbourhood Teams will be active in the main district shopping centres from 9am.
Cardiff's Contact Centre (C2C)
The Council has received a large number of calls relating to council properties and the Council managed to attend to over 100 properties last night to help residents. Given the severe conditions we are now operating on an emergency basis. We ask residents to be patient as the demand for these services is very high due to the severe weather conditions.
There have been several calls about broken boilers. It is worth looking at this British Gas video which explains how boilers can stop working if condensate pipes freeze. It shows a simple way to fix the problem simply(https://youtu.be/9tWUv7oHXOs)
Bereavement Services
All cemeteries will remain closed today as all burials have been cancelled by Funeral Directors.There are no funerals over the weekend.
Waste, Recycling, Bulky & Commercial Collections
All recycling and waste collections have been cancelled today. This includes bulky waste collections, and hygiene collections.
Cleansing Operations
All available cleansing staff are working on winter maintenance provision
Waste Education & Enforcement
Education and enforcement services are not taking place today and staff are re-filling gritting bins.
Household Waste Recycling Centres
All HWRC's are closed due to the bad weather and will remain closed tomorrow.
Schools
We are aware of the need to provide parents with sufficient warning to allow for child care arrangements. Further advice about opening on Monday will be issued on Sunday to schools, who will then communicate directly with parents in light of the decision they make.
Parks
All the Council's parks are open.
Hubs across the city
All hubs are now closed. Check social media and websites tomorrow for opening times.
Children's services and social services
The John Kane Centre (Youth Offending Service) is closed today calls are being diverted to a Duty Worker.
St Mellons (Fostering Service) is closed today calls diverted to duty worker.
Neville Street (Adolescent Recourse Centre) is closed today.
Hafan Gobaith (Looked After Children/Personal Advisor Service) was open today.
Homelessness and Hostels
The Housing Options Centre is open and our Outreach Team is working around the clock to help those in need.
Meals on Wheels
Meals on wheels are still being delivered across the city in 4x4 vehicles. Customers are being contacted by the Council if there are delays in the service and we will deliver to as many customers as possible.
Events
Cardiff Castle is now closed but the plan is to re-open tomorrow as usual.
St David's Hallshows have been cancelled today and Saturday and are not due to re-open until Sunday.
The performance at theNew Theatrehas also been cancelled today and will be reviewed tomorrow.
The Norwegian Churchis closed today. Check with Norwegian Church tomorrow for opening times.
Cardiff Story MuseumandCardiff Marketare closed today. Updates on tomorrow will follow.
County Hall is now closed to the Public for the weekend. Council staff will continue to prioritise essential services during this time, and we will keep you updated of any further developments on the Council's social media twitter account; on the Cardiff Newsroom www.cardiffnewsroom.co.uk and www.cardiff.gov.uk/winterweather
For the rest of today and tonight, the Met Office forecast the strong cold easterly wind to continue, bringing periods of snow across Wales, with 2 to 5 cm in places. On Saturday, with temperatures expected to be a few degrees higher than today the snow is likely to turn to a rain and sleet mix in lower lying areas. The upward trend in temperatures is expected to continue on Sunday with a slow thaw expected.