:00:07. > :00:11.Good afternoon, you're tuned in to a special Newsround all about snow
:00:11. > :00:21.with me, Ricky. Coming up: Snow strikes large parts of the country,
:00:21. > :00:25.
:00:25. > :00:28.and Nel visits South Wales - the So for most of us, there's only one
:00:28. > :00:32.talking point today - snow! For hundreds of thousands of you it's
:00:32. > :00:35.meant a day off school, for others it's caused huge travel disruption.
:00:35. > :00:38.Some of you in places like Norfolk have already had it, but today
:00:38. > :00:42.loads more snow has been sweeping across southern and central parts
:00:42. > :00:51.of England and Wales, with drifts as deep as 30 centimetres in places.
:00:51. > :00:55.Joe's been taking a look at how the country's been coping.
:00:55. > :00:58.It started in the early hours of the morning. By the middle of the
:00:59. > :01:04.day, large parts of England and Wales were covered in a white
:01:04. > :01:08.blanket. Wales has been hit the hardest, forecasters issued a red
:01:08. > :01:13.weather alert for seven areas, which is very rare. Heavy blizzards
:01:13. > :01:17.and snowdrifts caused more than 1000 schools to close and 10,000
:01:17. > :01:22.homes lost power. Lots of schools are shut in central and southern
:01:22. > :01:25.England, over 500 and Hampshire and 300 in both North began
:01:25. > :01:28.Gloucestershire. If if you had to actually get
:01:28. > :01:32.anywhere it might not have been as much fun as spending the day
:01:32. > :01:37.throwing snowballs. Visibility has been poor and roads have been icy
:01:37. > :01:41.and dangerous. The vehicle came right the way through, my husband
:01:41. > :01:45.had to rescue the driver from the back passenger door. Major roads
:01:45. > :01:49.have been affected, with part of the M4 near Bristol completely
:01:49. > :01:53.closed. Drivers in some of the worst-hit areas like South Wales
:01:53. > :01:57.have been told not to travel unless they absolutely have to. People
:01:57. > :02:02.have not had it easy travelling by train, services have been cancelled
:02:02. > :02:06.or delayed. With planes unable to leave the runway, flights have been
:02:06. > :02:10.disrupted at Cardiff, Heathrow, Bristol and Southampton.
:02:10. > :02:20.But most of you have been loving this No. You have been sending us
:02:20. > :02:30.photos and letting us know what you -- most of you have been loving the
:02:30. > :02:44.
:02:44. > :02:47.As Joe was telling us, one of the slowest areas is South Wales, where
:02:47. > :02:52.the Met Office issued the Red weather warning -- one of the
:02:52. > :02:58.snowiest areas. Nel checked out life in the red zone.
:02:58. > :03:01.We took to the road in a 4x4 vehicle, driving carefully. We were
:03:01. > :03:08.heading for Merthyr Tydfil, a town in the middle of part of South
:03:08. > :03:11.Wales given a very rare and read weather warning for snow. It means
:03:11. > :03:16.some communities are cut off, roads are impassable, severe travel
:03:16. > :03:22.disruption, there could be power cuts, very nasty weather and very
:03:22. > :03:26.cold. I am in the Heads of the Valleys in South Wales. That is one
:03:26. > :03:31.of the main roads in and out of South Wales, it is completely empty.
:03:31. > :03:35.I have seen a handful of cars since I have been here, because the snow
:03:35. > :03:40.is turning into a blizzard. In Merthyr Tydfil the streets were
:03:40. > :03:46.eerily quiet, but we found some kids enjoying an unexpected day off
:03:46. > :03:52.school. Their furry friend was loving it, too. It is really fun.
:03:52. > :03:58.It was just, quick, get out and play. It was really fun. Yesterday
:03:58. > :04:02.I was working all day and I wanted to go out in the snow. Conditions
:04:02. > :04:06.became so bad that the road we took to get into town was closed later
:04:06. > :04:10.in the day. With freezing temperatures and snow set to
:04:10. > :04:15.continue through the weekend, it looks like it will be rather white
:04:15. > :04:19.in the red zone for a little while later. -- a little while longer.
:04:19. > :04:23.There is loads more on the website, including cyclist Lance Armstrong