Monmouthshire was preparing itself for more snow as the Beacon went to press after last Friday's downpour. which left schools, businesses and public services struggling to stay open.

All of Monmouthshire's primary schools were closed last Friday (18th January), leaving youngsters to make the most of the snow.

A-Level students weren't all so lucky, with Monmouth Comprehensive School (MCS), Chepstow School and Haberdashers' Monmouth schools opening for those taking exams.

MCS caterers were prepared for the weather and welcomed students with hot drinks and bacon rolls.

"Students taking examinations on Friday only had this opportunity, otherwise they would have to sit the papers in the summer along with all their other papers," said the school in a statement.

"The school knew that snow was on its way and had put in all the preparations to make sure students could sit their exams."

All schools were open on Monday after much effort over the weekend but many were closed again yesterday (Tuesday).

Parents are advised to check monmouthshire.gov.uk for school closure updates.

Council gritting teams have been praised for their efforts over the past few days, with most of the county's major routes and town centres cleared of snow and ice.

The authority is also confident about its grit supplies after starting the winter with more road salt than ever before.

"We began the winter with a stock of 10,000 tonnes of road salt. We used to start with 7,500 tonnes and never ran out," said a spokesman.

"As of last Thursday night we had a stock of just over 8,000 tonnes of road salt. Since then we have continued to grit over 300 miles of road on scheduled gritting routes.

"In addition, we have gritted much of our minor road network, pavements in town centres, car parks and approaches to schools. Where requested by the schools, we have gritted school yards. In total, we used about 800 tonnes of road salt."

A pre-arranged delivery was due to take stocks up to 7,900 tonnes.

The council reported a sharp increase in the number of visitors to its website and said Twitter had been invaluable in getting messages to both council officers and the public.

Council leader Peter Fox said: "We're so grateful to those people who have retweeted and shared information around the county – community spirit is alive online as well as our on the snowy roads."