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Snow: Norfolk has Covid mass vaccination centre and schools closed by Storm Darcy

BBC Delays at Long StrattonBBC
Roads across Norfolk had slow traffic following the heavy snow

A Covid-19 mass vaccination centre and almost 400 schools in Norfolk have been closed because of heavy snow.

North Walsham Community Centre was shut, but other vaccination centres and doctors surgeries across the county remain open.

A Met Office amber warning for snow was in place across much of the region - but it was scaled down to yellow at midday.

Roads across the region were also said to be hazardous.

NHS Cambridgeshire Community Services, which is in charge of the mass vaccination centres, confirmed the closure in North Walsham, but added that centres in the Norwich Castle Quarter, King's Lynn Corn Exchange, The Horsefair Shopping Centre in Wisbech and Connaught Hall in Attleborough all remained open.

NHS Norfolk & Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group said all GP surgeries that were due to vaccinate were still open.

Pathways being cleared at Park Surgery in Great Yarmouth
Park Surgery was open for Covid-19 vaccinations, but people were being told to only travel there is it was safe to do so

Dr Luke Gardner, a GP at Park Surgery in Great Yarmouth, said: "If you can't make it safely then please don't turn up.

"You don't need to call in. We will contact you after today. The vaccine will not go to waste."

Under current national restrictions, only children of critical workers, vulnerable children and young people have been attending school in person, but 386 schools were closed to all pupils on Monday, with others only partially open, according to the Norfolk County Council school closures webpage.

Norfolk Police said in Norwich city centre the snow had been compacted, making driving hazardous especially on routes including Grapes Hill and Kett's Hill.

BBC Radio Norfolk's Andrew Turner said roads across the county were "covered in frozen and compacted snow, while pavements are knee deep".

The A47 had reopened, having closed earlier when two vehicles went into a snow drift, but road closures were still in place across other parts of the county.

Elsewhere, there were delays at Long Stratton where the road has been reopened after having been blocked by a jack-knifed lorry.

Another driver had to be dug out of his car after it got trapped in a snowdrift at 05:45 GMT.

Victoria Lawrence said her husband Steve had been driving through Southrepps to pick up his father for a hospital appointment.

"He got stuck and it just drifted over the car," she said.

"Thankfully a friend dug him out and he is now having a much-needed cup of tea."

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