Thousands of UK schools shut as council sites listing closures CRASHES leaving parents in the dark

PARENTS have been left in the dark after a council website revealing which schools were closed crashed.

Frustrated parents were met with the downed Gloucestershire City Council website this morning as they tried to find out if they needed to battle the cold weather to get their kids to school.

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The freezing temperatures has seen multiple weather warnings issued by the Met Office for today and over the weekend, including cautions for snow and ice.

Thousands of schools have since closed, meaning an estimated 800,000 children will stay home today.

But the day wasn't made any easier when the Gloucestershire City Council website crashed.

Just one of the angry parents took to social media to vent their frustrations, writing: "The school closure link is not working - been trying all morning! Please sort it out GCC, the old system always worked!"

Another added: "This is poor. The only day so far in the year when it matters whether this page works, and it is unavailable."

A third said: "its really great when schools tell u to look at websites to see if its closed or not and then the websites dont work."

A majority of schools closed on Thursday are based in Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Liverpool.

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Blizzards are set to cause a nightmare for commuters with travel delays "likely" due to another 2in of snow being dumped on existing coverage, the Met Office said.

The warning, set to last until 11am, said there is a "good chance" that some rural communities could become completely cut off.

Power cuts, phone outages and cancellations to flights and rail services will affect hundreds of thousands of people.

Students at Callywith College in Bodmin, Cornwall, were even forced to stay at the school overnight due to the snow.

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But many were left unimpressed as they were left with "no bedding" and sleeping on the floor.

One wrote on Twitter: "Situation at Callywith College: I have no bedding, sleeping on the floor and my bag. Lights are being kept on the entire night. Nobody can sleep. Likely all pulling an all nighter. Nice work, Callywith."

But a parent pointed out: "My son is at Callywith college and is staying overnight along with the rest that are unable to get home. There have been a lot of accidents today on trecherous roads.

"The college and the bus company are being responsible humans."

Among the areas worst affected will be southern England and Wales - where up to 4in of snow looks set to fall.

It comes as more than one hundreds drivers were forced to bed down in a pub after snow left them stranded overnight.

Motorists were forced to kip on the floor of the Jamaica Inn, in Cornwall, after drivers were stuck on the A30 for 10 hours - and more snow is to hit the UK today.

The Met Office has warned of further delays on roads and travel disruption as it issued an Amber warning for snow until 11am today, with rural villages running the risk of being cut off.

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But this could ease as the day goes on, with the morning sleet and snow in the south due to fade - with the possibility of some sunny spells breaking through in the north.

However temperatures will still remain very low today, with a frosty predicted this evening and an icy start to a chilly day tomorrow with some snow in coastal area.

Snow, sleet and rain is expected to whip back across the UK from Sunday to Tuesday, with brisk winds, although temperatures should rise as the week goes on.

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