18/01/2013 Newsround

Good afternoon, you're tuned in to a special Newsround all about snow

with me, Ricky. Coming up: Snow strikes large parts of the country,

and Nel visits South Wales - the So for most of us, there's only one

talking point today - snow! For hundreds of thousands of you it's

meant a day off school, for others it's caused huge travel disruption.

Some of you in places like Norfolk have already had it, but today

loads more snow has been sweeping across southern and central parts

of England and Wales, with drifts as deep as 30 centimetres in places.

Joe's been taking a look at how the country's been coping.

It started in the early hours of the morning. By the middle of the

day, large parts of England and Wales were covered in a white

blanket. Wales has been hit the hardest, forecasters issued a red

weather alert for seven areas, which is very rare. Heavy blizzards

and snowdrifts caused more than 1000 schools to close and 10,000

homes lost power. Lots of schools are shut in central and southern

England, over 500 and Hampshire and 300 in both North began

Gloucestershire. If if you had to actually get

anywhere it might not have been as much fun as spending the day

throwing snowballs. Visibility has been poor and roads have been icy

and dangerous. The vehicle came right the way through, my husband

had to rescue the driver from the back passenger door. Major roads

have been affected, with part of the M4 near Bristol completely

closed. Drivers in some of the worst-hit areas like South Wales

have been told not to travel unless they absolutely have to. People

have not had it easy travelling by train, services have been cancelled

or delayed. With planes unable to leave the runway, flights have been

disrupted at Cardiff, Heathrow, Bristol and Southampton.

But most of you have been loving this No. You have been sending us

photos and letting us know what you -- most of you have been loving the

As Joe was telling us, one of the slowest areas is South Wales, where

the Met Office issued the Red weather warning -- one of the

snowiest areas. Nel checked out life in the red zone.

We took to the road in a 4x4 vehicle, driving carefully. We were

heading for Merthyr Tydfil, a town in the middle of part of South

Wales given a very rare and read weather warning for snow. It means

some communities are cut off, roads are impassable, severe travel

disruption, there could be power cuts, very nasty weather and very

cold. I am in the Heads of the Valleys in South Wales. That is one

of the main roads in and out of South Wales, it is completely empty.

I have seen a handful of cars since I have been here, because the snow

is turning into a blizzard. In Merthyr Tydfil the streets were

eerily quiet, but we found some kids enjoying an unexpected day off

school. Their furry friend was loving it, too. It is really fun.

It was just, quick, get out and play. It was really fun. Yesterday

I was working all day and I wanted to go out in the snow. Conditions

became so bad that the road we took to get into town was closed later

in the day. With freezing temperatures and snow set to

continue through the weekend, it looks like it will be rather white

in the red zone for a little while later. -- a little while longer.

There is loads more on the website, including cyclist Lance Armstrong