Thousands more Dagenham pupils enjoy the white stuff

THOUSANDS of pupils were given the day off today as figures revealed the UK had its deepest November snowfalls in 45 years.

All Saints and Warren secondary schools in Dagenham and five primaries were shut, while Barking Abbey and Jo Richardson secondaries planned to close early this afternoon after 3in of snow fell in the capital.

Council chiefs warned there may be disruption to their services while two primary schools, St Peter’s and Thomas Arnold in Dagenham, revealed they had shut because of increasingly dangerous roads.

But no major accidents were reported and children enjoyed the white stuff.

Tufayl Ahmed, six, of Roding Primary in Dagenham, said: “We have lots of fun. Some of us are falling over. One of us has made a big snowman and a massive snowball.”

Met Office expert Ewen McCallum said yesterday there was no end in sight for the big freeze.

“It is very unusual for a period of easterly winds to bring such heavy and prolonged snowfall.

“In fact for November, the amounts of snow this year have been the heaviest and most widespread in the UK since 1993 and the deepest November snow since 1965.

“As we head into December and take a look at the Met Office outlook, there appears to be no abrupt end to this cold and snowy weather for some time.”