Snow causes chaos on county’s roads
jpco-23/1/13 No fun in the Snow on A264 east bound (Pic by Jon Rigby)
Drivers were forced to abandon their vehicles after snow and ice caused chaos on the county’s roads last night (Tuesday January 22).
Traffic was reported as at a stand still from Handcross Hill on the A23 down to the coast with the worst affected stretch going south between Pyecombe and Brighton.
Sussex Police urged people not to travel unless absolutely necessary and said many side roads on both the A23 and A27 were closed because of the adverse weather conditions.
Those who did travel were advised to turn back, turn off the dual carriageway, or get to a service station and stay warm as the situation worsened.
Vehicles were reported to be sliding on the ice on the B2110 Horsham Road in Handcross and police said snow and ice were causing a similar problem as vehicles left the A23.
People reported journey times of three to four hours on the A23 while neigbouring roads in Mid Sussex ground to a halt clogging up the B2116 road in Hurstpierpoint.
Traffic was at a stand still in Hassocks and stretches of the nearby A27 were closed as gritters battled to spread in the blizzard like conditions.
Snow ploughs were also called in and the abandoned vehicles removed from the affected roads.
This morning (Wednesday) roads remained treacherous but Sussex Police reported that traffic was moving on both the A23 and A27 but said there were still abandoned vehicles on the side of the road.
There were also problems on the A264 between Horsham and Crawley. Drivers reported journey times of up to an hour because of the snow.
The Met Office has not forecast any more snow for Crawley.
Were you on the A23 last night? Did you take any pictures? Contact us at newsdesk.
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Weather for Crawley
Tuesday 18 June 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 15 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Thunderstorm
Temperature: 15 C to 28 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
