Even if you haven't experienced it first hand, you'll probably have seen on the news that parts of Cumbria have experienced some heavy snow at the weekend.

I'm going to try and give a summary of where we're currently at (on Sunday evening) - this is particularly aimed at those of you who work with the communities affected, but haven't been involved over the weekend - so that you can answer basic questions about what's happened (and what's still underway). I've copied in a few extra people who I know are working with communities affected on other issues such as flooding.

It's almost certain not to be perfect, and will miss many details - so if you have been more directly involved in part of the response than me, feel free to add details (or correct me!)

The snow that arrived across the southern part of Cumbria on Saturday morning was much heavier than forecast - the Yellow Weather Warning was upgraded to an Amber Warning at lunchtime, a Multi-Agency Assessment Teleconference was arranged, and a major incident was declared just before 1400. The multi-agency coordination structures have been running since then.

There were a number issues of particular concern on Saturday:

• The Grizedale Rally was taking place, with hundreds of cars (competitors and spectators) in car parks high in the forest
• Major roads (including parts of the A59, A591, A592, A595 and the M6) were becoming impassible
• Some communities, including Millom, Bowness, and Ambleside were inaccessible - with many visitors needing shelter
• A number of areas were losing power and/or communications

The areas worst affected include Millom. Coniston, Hawkshead, Ambleside, Bowness, Ings, Staveley and Kendal (and surrounding areas) - and in many areas, the community opened up venues for people to stay overnight - the Westmorland and Furness Communities Team have been in contact with many of these through the weekend.

The Highways Teams (from both Councils, and National Highways) have worked together to clear the main routes - this has been a huge, around the clock effort, and at times it has involved teaming up a snow plough with a JCB in order to make progress,

All the Priority 1 & 2 routes should now be passable with care (albeit still with some fallen trees and debris to clear in places), but many minor roads will still be untreated.

As of this evening:

• There's a Yellow Weather Warning in place for Ice (UK weather warnings (metoffice.gov.uk)) until tomorrow lunchtime
• Major roads are passable with care, but minor roads may not be
• Around 2000 properties are off power (Fault list (enwl.co.uk))
• Many are expected to be restored overnight
• Some may be off until late tomorrow afternoon
• Visits to the most vulnerable customers are underway
• As you'll remember from Storm Arwen, it's very hard to give a good estimate of the time it'll take to restore power until an engineer arrives on scene and can see the extent of the damage - ENWL have cancelled all routine work tomorrow to bring resource into Cumbria
• Some schools will be closed tomorrow (parents should have been informed - or check the Council websites)

Cumbria's continuing to run coordination meetings, focussed on supporting those without power - the situation will be assessed again tomorrow morning. Keep an eye on social media (e.g. Cumbria Police, Westmorland and Furness Council, Cumberland Council, Electricity North West) for the latest info.

Finally, a huge thank you to everyone who's been involved in the response - as part of their community, a voluntary organisation (for example, Red Cross, St John Ambulance, Mountain Rescue and 4x4 Response have all been involved), or as part of a statutory sector organisation. I'm sure there'll have been times when it felt like you couldn't do enough (and there certainly people who'll have had spent an uncomfortable night in their car or a reception centre), but you've certainly made a huge difference.

There will be a debrief (we'll make sure that that includes community groups) - but given response is still ongoing, there are no details yet. We'll let you know over the coming weeks......

Thanks all - we'll be happy to try and answer any questions, but do bear with us if that takes a few days.