Scotland, Ireland Dig Out in Wake of Heavy Snow

A heavy mantle of snow has spread over wide stretches Scotland to the highground of Ireland, Wales and north England in the wake of a major wintry stormstriking the British Archipelago.

As of late Thursday, heavy, wet snow still lay more than one foot deep atAviemore in the upland of northern Scotland after being as deep as 18 incheslate Wednesday.

Over the nearby Highland, highest snowfall was easily twice as high, and highwinds made for blizzards of severe blowing and drifting snow. For instance, theski center at Aviemore reported at least 75 cm, or about 30 inches, of snow.

The cities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh both were covered by sloppy, wet snow, asthe storm also poured soaking rain throughout the coast and lowlands.

Deep snowcover of Scotland was echoed in the hills of Northern Ireland, wherethe site of Lough Fea, east of Omagh, lay buried beneath 15 inches of snow.

Uplands of Wales to the Pennines and Lake District fells of north England alsoweathered heavy windswept snowfall and blowing snow.

Impact of the snowstorm on transportation and utilities was marked.

More than 100 people were stranded when the train they were riding struck asnow drift in Scotland on Wednesday.

BBC News reported 23,000 customers in Northern Ireland were still without poweras of Thursday.

The main road between the cities of Belfast and Derry was hit hard along thehills above Derry. About 300 people were said to have been rescued fromvehicles stuck in deep snow through the Glenshane Pass.

Elsewhere, London and other cities of England experienced cold rain andslashing wind, but little or no snow.

The wintry storm responsible for the severe weather since Monday has pullednorthward as it weakened Thursday. This shift puts an end to the widespreadrain and upland snow on Wednesday night and Thursday.