THE biggest snowfall for 18 years brought East Surrey to a virtual standstill six years ago next month as schools shut, public transport was suspended and the roads became hazardous.
Many of the 2,200 students at Oxted School swapped their schoolbooks for sledges and descended to Master Park as every school in the Tandridge district and surrounding area closed their doors on Monday, February 2, 2009, and the following day.
On Wednesday, February 4, Limpsfield Grange School and Tatsfield Primary School were shut for the third day due to the conditions. Panic-buyers in Oxted flocked to Morrisons to stock up on supplies after nearby Sainsbury's closed its doors due to staff shortages on Monday.
The chaos caused gridlock on the A25 and the A22 on that Sunday night, February 1, and treacherous conditions on surrounding roads.
As twilight descended over Tandridge, snow swirled down and settled readily on the main road between Oxted and Godstone and in just a short time, with the temperature at -1C, settled readily on the road surface.
That Sunday night, the persistent flurries gave way to continuous heavy snow. By the next afternoon, more than a foot of snow lay in Croydon town centre after one of the heaviest snowfalls on record.
The worst-affected area was to the north of Merstham and Hooley – in the Chipstead, Coulsdon, Mugswell and Caterham area where level snow lay to almost a foot and a half in places.
To the south of the North Downs, the snow was not as deep, but still blanketed the ground to a depth of several inches in Reigate, Redhill and Horley.
One family celebrating a family member's birthday in the White Hart, Chipstead, could barely get home by car and the whole family had to push their car up a hilly road to reach their house. Their car was stuck there for days on end as thereafter it was impossible to use a motor vehicle with such a thick blanket of snow covering every side road.
In the Chipstead Valley, a house caught fire and the London Fire Brigade could not reach the burning home for a considerable period. The house, in Woodlands Grove, off Chipstead Valley Road, was gutted.
Naturally, the slopes of parks became winter playgrounds as hundreds of youngsters – and many adults, too – flocked to the icy slopes at Box Hill and Priory Park, Reigate, with toboggans in all shapes and forms.
The cold weather lasted at least a week, but later in February it became much milder and there was flooding in places as the snow melted.
