Brace yourself - it's going to get even colder! PICTURE GALLERIES.

That was the prediction from forecasters yesterday after several snowy and icy days across Rotherham which saw schools closed, events cancelled and roads impassable.

Weather forecasters said that the coming days would see the mercury falling even further with more snow showers likely to blight the early part of next week and no sign of the big freeze beginning to thaw.

Rotherham Borough Council’s team of 12 gritting lorries have been operating around the clock, spreading around 400 tonnes of grit every day to try to keep major routes clear.

Cllr Richard Russell, Cabinet member for Streetpride, praised the team of drivers.

“They are doing a fantastic job in some terrible conditions,” he said. “They are working 12-hour shifts and, on top of that, assisting with refuse collections.”

Rotherham is one of the few local authorities to maintain grit supplies—and deliveries of more grit to Streetpride's Greasbrough depot continued throughout the extreme weather on Tuesday.

But despite efforts to keep the town running as normal, most of the borough’s 125 schools were closed on Tuesday, 111 were still shut on Wednesday and more than 20 remained out of action yesterday, a situation which received a frosty reception from business chiefs.

“The biggest disruption seems to be caused by school closures and employees having to take time off to look after their children,” said Andrew Denniff, policy and communications manager at Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber of Commerce.

“Some innovative thinking on teachers reporting to their nearest school would be helpful. After all, don’t we now have a national curriculum?”

Jill Adams, of the National Union of Teachers, defended the closures and insisted that sending teachers to their nearest school was not the solution.

“Sending children to school to be baby sat by a teacher they are unfamiliar with and will not be delivering their scheduled lessons, is not the answer,.

“Children in this country already work longer hours than any in Europe and I think the current extreme weather conditions offer an opportunity for many families to spend some quality time together.”