FEARS of a repeat of the chaos caused by Tuesday’s snow turned out to be unfounded when predicted heavy snowfall failed to materialise on Thursday.

The Met Office issued a severe weather warning on Wednesday, predicting snow would arrive that evening and become extremely heavy by the early hours of Thursday.

Taking no chances, Rochdale Council advised schools to close as a precaution. It also sent out seven teams of gritters onto all main roads, bus routes and some smaller roads.

But on Thursday morning, parents who had been forced to take the day off work or make alternative childcare arrangements, woke to discover all fears had been groundless.

Instead of the predicted blizzard-like conditions and sub-zero temperatures, all that fell on Rochdale was rain.

A small number of schools, including Bamford Primary, Healey Primary and St Michael’s Primary School in Bamford, decided to stay open on Thursday.

Aidan Gumbley, the deputy headteacher of St Michael’s Primary in Bamford, which also remained open on Tuesday, explained: "The decision to keep the school open was taken on Wednesday.

"We felt we were able to staff the school with those who lived nearby and were able to walk in if the weather was bad.

"The staff are all very committed and they were all here in plenty of time this morning after setting off early just in case."

Bosses at Rochdale Infirmary had even thought about letting some nurses stay overnight in staff accommodation if it started to snow heavily on Wednesday night.

A spokesman for the Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust said: "Most of our staff managed to make it to work on Tuesday, some going to extraordinary lengths to do so.

"Those who were prevented from getting to work arranged appropriate cover and the Trust again asked staff to make a special effort in anticipation of the weather conditions deteriorating on Thursday.

"A&E was very busy at periods during the week and this was not helped by the weather conditions. We did advise people not to attend A&E unless it really was an accident or emergency, we asked them to see their GP, a pharmacist or visit a drop-in centre."

On Tuesday, Rochdale ground to a halt due to an onslaught of snow, ice, freezing fog and sleet.

Dozens of schools were forced to close, bin collections were postponed until today (Saturday) and many motorists faced significant delays on their journeys to work.

Junction 20 of the M62 was blocked with drivers trying to get to Middleton and Heywood via Rochdale after junction 19 had to be closed because HGVs couldn’t make it up the ungritted slope.

Although Rochdale Council says it sent gritters out from 5am on Tuesday morning, motorists reported experiencing treacherous conditions and many complained about the lack of gritting in certain parts of town.

Janet Williams, of Smithy Bridge, contacted the Observer after her journey to work in Manchester took three-and-a-half hours longer than normal.

Ms Williams said: "At 5am there were no gritters in sight in Smithy Bridge Road, Halifax Road, Manchester Road and right up past the All in One garden centre, there was absolutely no sign of any grit whatsoever on the roads."