TWO days' worth of heavy snow caused total chaos in the Amman, Gwendraeth, Swansea and Towy valleys at the tail end of last week.

Schools were shut, roads were closed and businesses were forced to send workers home early as Thursday's conditions worsened going into Friday.

The treacherous conditions cost Carmarthenshire Council £100,000 in labour, machinery and grit.

More than 1,400 tonnes of salt were used to grit the highways network in the county.

Environmental service crews cleared footways in main urban areas and staff were deployed to clear town and village centres at Garnant, Brynaman, Llandeilo, Llangadog and Llandovery.

Gritting lorries were on patrol continously salting and ploughing, and a total of 18 vehicles and crew were out across the county.

Some refuse collections were disrupted, particularly in rural areas and on higher ground, but these were resolved by Saturday.

Environment executive board member Cllr Pam Palmer said: "The whole operation was very costly but every effort was made to keep the roads open during the adverse weather, and to clean up as quickly as possible afterwards.

"Although the snow did take everyone by surprise, we pulled out all the stops and I would like to personally thank all our staff who worked so hard during such difficult conditions."