Are you in the Christmas spirit yet?
Maybe you will be once you see the heavy snow projected to arrive in both Manchester and Liverpool as the four local northwest England teams play their respective derby matches tomorrow. With the Manchester and Merseyside Derbies- ”Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.”
We often associate consistent rain with the climate of northern England, but snow not as much. Thus, ehen a big snow band does arrive, it’s a pretty big deal.
“A spell of heavy snow is likely over parts of Wales, the Midlands and parts of Northern England on Sunday,” the Met Office’s warning said.
“Road, rail and air travel delays are likely, as well as stranding of vehicles and public transport cancellations. There is a good chance that some rural communities could become cut off.”
The current forecast calls 10 centimeters (four inches) of snow, raising in some areas to 15-20 centimeters (six-eight inches), from 4 a.m. to 6 p.m. tomorrow.
The actual pitch should be fine with both stadiums, as they have a heating coil system underneath the grass that keeps the playing surface from becoming frozen hard. The real concern here is for the spectators, stadium workers and everyone else commuting to the matches.
The official United website encourages fans to arrive as early as possible and that ”supporters with long distance journeys are advised to plan routes before traveling,” and urged fans to arrive early.
Liverpool released a statement that read:
“Due to the inclement weather forecast on Sunday, Liverpool FC would like to remind supporters to take extra care when travelling to Anfield and encourage fans to plan their journey in advance.”
As of now, both Liverpool versus Everton and Manchester United versus Manchester City are slated to go on as planned. The Merseyside derby is scheduled for 2:15 p.m.before the Manchester derby kicks off at 4:30, but “the weather outside is frightful.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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