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An Australian couple have made a “mad dash” to freedom after spending three days trapped by heavy snow with nearly 30 others.
Paul and Naomi Wright from the Northern Territory were staying at ‘Britain’s highest pub’ the Tan Hill Inn in North Yorkshire, when heavy snow, icy roads and strong winds forced the crowd to stay in the pub.
The group of people became trapped on Saturday night local time. On Sunday, the inn posted to Facebook that the group were having a “leisurely start to their day” due to an amber weather warning for snow and ice, which had also closed the pub to the public.
The Met Office, the United Kingdom’s weather forecasting service, advises people to avoid travel during snowy or icy conditions.
The Tan Hill Inn, which is 528m above sea level, has a reputation for ‘snow-ins’, including another incident in 2021 where dozens of fans of the band Oasis were trapped in the pub after turning up for a tribute concert.
Speaking to the Today show Wednesday morning, Paul Wright said the group was fortunate enough to make their escape after some farmers brought plough equipment to clear the roads.
“They’ve actually cleared the roads for us, came up and said to anyone that wanted to get out needed to go now,” he said.
“We all pitched in together; the guys came up with the ploughs lined us up and it was a mad dash back to the highway.”
Local farmers brought ploughs to clear the roads for the trapped patrons. Credit: North Yorkshire Weather Updates on Facebook
Naomi Wright told Today if the group hadn’t made it out in the short time frame they were given, they could have been trapped “for another three or four days”.
They said the group spent their time playing in the snow, making snowmen and celebrating together in the evenings.
“A lot of drinking, a lot of eating, a lot of chatting, playing cards, just getting to know everybody that was there,” Naomi Wright said.
The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for snow and ice for the week, with snow across Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and South West England.
There have also been flood warnings this week in parts of the UK, as melting snow combines with heavy rain.
