Forecasters say Great Yarmouth needs to brace itself for another cold snap as more freezing winter weather sweeps in.Some snow is possible during New Years Eve and into New Years Day giving us an arctic start to 2010.

Forecasters say Great Yarmouth needs to brace itself for another cold snap as more freezing winter weather sweeps in.

Some snow is possible during New Years Eve and into New Years Day giving us an arctic start to 2010.

John Law, forecaster at University of East Anglia based WeatherQuest, said overnight temperatures could plummet as low as minus five with daytime temperatures struggling to a high of one or two degrees.

He said the cold weather would continue into the weekend.

Motorists are advised to take extra care and to allow extra time for journeys.

The James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston has already seen an influx of casualties from slips and pavement falls during the last cold snap in the week running up to Christmas.

The snow created havoc for some with water and energy companies kept busy with burst pipes and power cuts.

The flurry of falls has seen people voicing anger about the lack of gritting on urban side streets and pavement as well as rural roads.

This week refuse collectors will be catching up on missed green bins after conditions were deemed to treacherous for 26 tonne dust carts.

In response to a complaint from Julie Leggett of Suffolk Road, Gorleston, angry that her bin had not been emptied, Ian Barnett general manager, GYB Services, said: “If you have ever seen an 18 tonne / 26 tonne vehicle out of control on ice, as I have, you may understand why we took the decision not to send out our fleet that morning. A vehicle of such weight will not stop until it hits something. That something could be a house wall, parked car or (worse still) a member of the public. Conditions underfoot were also treacherous for the refuse loaders, who pull around a 1000 bins a day. We have a duty of care to our employees and the public. While we did not take this decision lightly, I am comfortable that we made the right decision. As a result, around 5000 black bins (containing putrescible waste) remained un-emptied.

“As conditions on Tuesday 22nd had improved, we drafted the three crews who would have been lifting green recycling bins out with the refuse crews. By now, we had 10,000 black bins to empty (Monday and Tuesdays).Dry recyclates will not rot, do not pose a public health issue and can be stored for later collection.”