HEAVY snow forced dozens of schools in south Essex to stay closed for a second day.

Although there were no major accidents on the roads on Tuesday morning, as the largest snowfall in south Essex for 18 years began turning into treacherous ice.

Essex County Council is advising residents to be careful on the roads. A team of 65 gritters and snow ploughs have been out around the clock.

With snowy and icy conditions expected to persist, the decision was taken by Essex County Council, to cancel all mobile library visits on Tuesday(Feb 3).

The authority said some 250 schools are shut across the county for a second day because of the adverse weather.

Forecasters had predicted more severe weather on Monday afternoon and overnight, so parents were advised to be prepared for further school closures.

On Tuesday (Feb 3), around 19 schools closed in Southend, around were 40 closed in the Basildon district and five were closed in Castle Point.

Lord Hanningfield said: “The decision about whether or not to close is made by each individual school and the most important consideration is always pupil safety.

Meanwhile Essex County Council staff and WRVS volunteers - with the help of 4x4 vehicles - pulled out all the stops today to ensure around 1,450 meals on wheels were delivered to everyone who was expecting them.

Despite the appalling road conditions, the WRVS, which delivers the meals on behalf of the council, managed to deliver a service as usual.

Although some meal deliveries were slightly earlier than usual, the WRVS telephoned service users or alternative contacts to see if they could provide extra support.

David Finch, Essex county councillor for adults, health and community wellbeing, said: "Staff and volunteers have worked extremely hard in ensuring that the vulnerable people in the community have been delivered a hot meal in extremely difficult circumstances. They have all been a credit to WRVS and the council in delivering the service today and this shows local Government at its best."

Extra staff have been put on a rota and extra 4 x 4 vehicles sourced so everything was in place for deliveries on Tuesday, assuming the conditions are the same or worse.

Some 15 centimetres fell throughout Sunday night.