Winter truly arrived in Britain as the country woke up on Friday morning to a blanket of snow. While for some it means school closures, days off work and fun in the snow, many aren’t quite as fortunate. And footballers are no different, with the snow being cleared from Arsenal’s training ground ahead of Friday’s session.
The temperature at London Colney reached 1°C at 9am on Friday morning with the fields completely covered in the white stuff. Arsenal’s ground staff face a battle to clear the snow in time for training as they prepare to visit Manchester City on Sunday.
There was around 12 hours of snowfall recorded in some parts of Britain, with thermometers plunging to as low as -15.4C in Braemer. Up to 400 schools have closed up and down the country with as much as several inches of snow on the ground. Up on Mereseyside Everton’s players were put through their paces at the Finch Farm training ground, which was also blanketed in snow.
Meanwhile snow chaos threatened to ruin travel plans for Six Nations fans ahead of the opening game in Paris. A 9.30am flight from Cardiff was cancelled and several Eurostar trains severely delayed from London, affecting hundreds of Welsh supporters. And Sportsmail understands former Welsh winger Shane Williams is now struggling to make the match at the Stade de France which kicks off at 9pm local time. The legendary record try-scorer for Wales was due to appear on BBC Radio 5 Live and now may not make it to France in time for the Test.