University severe weather closure prompts ECS snow ingenuity

With the University closed due to the severe winter weather, ECS students showed their world-leading skills in snowperson-building.

The decision was taken on Thursday 2 December to close the University due to lack of support staff at work due to the severe weather, and to remain closed on Friday 3 December. It is anticipated that the University will open as normal on Monday but staff and students should await further updates which will be issued on the University web site.

The University and ECS have already said that the closure will be taken into account at what is an exceptionally busy time of year for coursework and project deadlines, and that students will not be disadvantaged.

The ECS snowperson, constructed in the Mountbatten/Zepler forecourt, followed the mysterious appearance in the undergraduate computing lab earlier this week of an exceptionally well-constructed piano-playing mechanical cat, demonstrating that even at the toughest times of the year ECS student ingenuity is in abundant supply.

See more photos of the snow on Colin Williams' (ECS PhD student) photostream on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/crwilliams/

********Update*******

On Friday 3 December at 12 noon, the University issued the following statement:

University Re-opens

The University will return to normal operations on the morning of Monday 6 December.

We expect weather conditions to have improved by Saturday 4 December. For your own safety we would advise caution if you intend to travel to any of the campuses over the weekend as not all pathways will have been cleared or car parks gritted.

Over the weekend the University will be prioritising its efforts to support the student experience during the return to normal operations.

Student Halls These will be operating as normal.

Hartley Library On Highfield campus the Hartley Library will be open on Saturday at 9am as normal, although catering facilities will be limited.

Jubilee Sport Hall This facility will be closed until Monday.

Turner Sims Concert Hall The Courtney Pine performance scheduled for Friday 3 December has had to be postponed due to the severe weather. For further details please visit http://www.turnersims.co.uk/upcoming-events/2010/december/courtney-pine

Nuffield Theatre Performances are running as scheduled.

John Hansard Gallery The Gallery will be closed until Monday.

Please check the website for any updates