Family spend night in school with 100 other motorists stranded after heavy snowfall
- 5 months ago
A dad has told how his family were forced to spend the night in a school with 100 other stranded motorists after heavy snow forced them to abandon their cars.
Mike Smith, 39, was stranded with his partner and three stepkids in Grizedale in the Lake District after a blizzard dumped two and a half foot of white powder on roads.
The family were then left stuck in the snow for the next eight hours before police told them to leave their car and seek refuge in a nearby primary school.
Mike said a local chip shop donated dozens of portions of fish dinners to drivers before they’d bedded down on the floor of the school’s hall.
And he feared they may have to stay two more nights at the school, with six inches of snow expected to fall on the region later today (Sun).
His comments come as 2,508 electricity customers were left without power across Cumbria due to heavy snow.
He said: “We have to probably wait until tomorrow and dig the cars out, and then probably try and get them back up the hill.
"But if it snows again, it will probably be another day after that.
“We spent the night in the school, sleeping on the floor, keeping warm. The whole floor was covered in people just sleeping.
"They put on the TV for us, so we were watching I’m a Celebrity, Strictly Come Dancing, stuff like that, just to keep people not thinking about it.
“And we had fish and chips that were donated to the local primary school. It was just mental, what an experience."
Mike, a waiter at Centre Parcs, said his family had gone to the mountainous Grizedale rally stage during the morning from their home in Alston, Cumbria.
They had parked with other spectators on the verges of the road before watching the cars take to the rough tracks, which had already been hit with some snow.
But when they decided to leave just before noon, fearing the wintry conditions, a blizzard made the narrow roads completely impassable.
Mike said: “We got back to the car at 11.40am, and we didn’t leave the mountain until 7.20pm.
"I think there are 30 cars still stuck on top of the mountain. It's absolutely mental.
“It was just forestry roads where everyone was parking on the verge. A local farmer came and pulled most of the cars out.
"But then the police got involved in the evening and advised everyone to abandon their cars and come back down for health and safety reasons.
“Mountain Rescue teams were up there as well advising everyone to come back down out the way.
“I would say two and a half foot of snow fell, easily. We took it all off the top of the car and within an hour, there was a good seven inches on top of the car again.
“Last night, another eight inches fell on top of that as well.”
Mike said they'd stayed at Hawkshead Esthwaite primary school, in Ambleside for the night.
And while kids and elderly were given soft mats and blankets, he and his partner Sammy Tancock, 38, had to make do without any bedding.
He added: “It was different, it wasn’t comfortable.
Mike Smith, 39, was stranded with his partner and three stepkids in Grizedale in the Lake District after a blizzard dumped two and a half foot of white powder on roads.
The family were then left stuck in the snow for the next eight hours before police told them to leave their car and seek refuge in a nearby primary school.
Mike said a local chip shop donated dozens of portions of fish dinners to drivers before they’d bedded down on the floor of the school’s hall.
And he feared they may have to stay two more nights at the school, with six inches of snow expected to fall on the region later today (Sun).
His comments come as 2,508 electricity customers were left without power across Cumbria due to heavy snow.
He said: “We have to probably wait until tomorrow and dig the cars out, and then probably try and get them back up the hill.
"But if it snows again, it will probably be another day after that.
“We spent the night in the school, sleeping on the floor, keeping warm. The whole floor was covered in people just sleeping.
"They put on the TV for us, so we were watching I’m a Celebrity, Strictly Come Dancing, stuff like that, just to keep people not thinking about it.
“And we had fish and chips that were donated to the local primary school. It was just mental, what an experience."
Mike, a waiter at Centre Parcs, said his family had gone to the mountainous Grizedale rally stage during the morning from their home in Alston, Cumbria.
They had parked with other spectators on the verges of the road before watching the cars take to the rough tracks, which had already been hit with some snow.
But when they decided to leave just before noon, fearing the wintry conditions, a blizzard made the narrow roads completely impassable.
Mike said: “We got back to the car at 11.40am, and we didn’t leave the mountain until 7.20pm.
"I think there are 30 cars still stuck on top of the mountain. It's absolutely mental.
“It was just forestry roads where everyone was parking on the verge. A local farmer came and pulled most of the cars out.
"But then the police got involved in the evening and advised everyone to abandon their cars and come back down for health and safety reasons.
“Mountain Rescue teams were up there as well advising everyone to come back down out the way.
“I would say two and a half foot of snow fell, easily. We took it all off the top of the car and within an hour, there was a good seven inches on top of the car again.
“Last night, another eight inches fell on top of that as well.”
Mike said they'd stayed at Hawkshead Esthwaite primary school, in Ambleside for the night.
And while kids and elderly were given soft mats and blankets, he and his partner Sammy Tancock, 38, had to make do without any bedding.
He added: “It was different, it wasn’t comfortable.