How schools decide when they should shut during snowy weather

As cold weather warnings sweep across the nation, many parents will be wondering whether their child's school will open.

On snowy days, schools make every effort to stay open, but sometimes they must close or partially close if it’s unsafe for pupils and teachers to attend.

Schools have their own approaches to contacting parents, with many utilising dedicated apps and/or messaging services.

Whilst institutions will try to give parents as much notice as possible, decisions can sometimes be made quite late as circumstances change rapidly. It is always best to check your email, school app, or school social media accounts regularly for the latest updates.

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Schools and other education settings are responsible for setting their own plans and policies on how to deal with adverse weather conditions. It is ultimately up to individual schools to decide whether it is safe for them to open or close, based on their own risk assessment and by taking local issues into account.

Decisions will be made locally based on common sense, with a large range of factors influencing the outcome. This could include situations where staffing levels cannot be met because transport issues are preventing teachers from getting to work.

Other examples include assessing safety conditions immediately around the school premises, and ensuring appropriate temperatures can be maintained within school buildings.

If schools do decide to temporarily close during severe weather, they should consider moving to remote learning for pupils until it is safe to reopen. In exceptional circumstances, a pupil may be unable to attend school because a local or national emergency has resulted in widespread disruption to travel.

If parents believe it would be unsafe to travel, they should inform the school as soon as possible to let them know their child won't be attending and why, in line with the school's absence policy.

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Temperatures will struggle to get above freezing in the coming days as many people are due to return to school or work after the festive period, with the Met Office warning that cold conditions will bring a range of hazards over the next few days.

Two amber snow warnings and five yellow snow and ice warnings remain in place across Scotland, the North West, east and south west of England, Northern Ireland, and Wales.

Much of Scotland has faced the worst of the weather, with hundreds of schools in the north of the country remaining closed on Tuesday. Schools in Shetland, Orkney and Aberdeenshire will remain shut on Tuesday after pupils enjoyed an extra day of holiday on Monday following the festive break due to the weather.

A number of flights have been cancelled, while some train lines are also affected.

The amber snow warnings are in place from 11am to 7pm on Tuesday for the Highlands and Central Scotland as a spell of heavy snow is expected to move east across central and north of the country, clearing to wintry showers during Tuesday night. A further 5 to 10cm is expected widely with 15cm in places, particularly above 200m.