Much of county grinds to halt in sub-zero blast

Most of south and central Meath came to a standstill on Monday as several centimetres of snow fell throughout the day, leaving roads in a treacherous condition and many impassable. Thousands of commuters had difficulty getting to and from work in the city and schools across the county closed as teachers, pupils and school buses were unable to make the journey to local schools. Children enjoyed the day off school and hundreds of snowmen sprung up around in gardens and green areas throughout the day while snowball fights broke out around the county. Thousands of teenagers flocked into Navan town centre at around noon on Monday when local secondary schools closed their doors. There were reports of a number of minor disturbances around the town as snowball fights got out of hand. Councillors arriving for the monthly meeting of Meath County Council on Monday reported that it took two hours to get from Ross Cross on the N3 to Navan in the early afternoon. Some of the worst affected areas were the Summerhill to Kilcock Road, where a number of trucks jack-knifed and cars had extreme difficulty climbing hills. Cars were stopped all along the road and local householders came out to look after stranded motorists. In one case, the Gardai from Kilcock came to the aid of a stranded family who were on their way to a hospital in Kildare and found themselves stuck outside Summerhill. The steep hills between Slane and Collon also caused huge problems for motorists and trucks as cars slid backwards down the hills throughout the day. The Donore and Duleek areas were also badly affected with many heavy trucks unable to negotiate a small hill near Platin and traffic getting stuck in the centre of Donore. A Meath County Council spokesman said that most of the snow had fallen after the local authority"s gritters had been out, exacerbating the difficult conditions for motorists.