SNOW “heroes” are to be given a civic thank you.

The Spirit of Calderdale during the winter’s freezing weather will be celebrated with a special event next week.

The Mayor of Calderdale will attend the event on Saturday, April 17, at 11am to thank all Calderdale’s Snow Heroes who helped keep vital services running and helped residents affected by the severe conditions.

They include staff from Calderdale Council, the NHS, West Yorkshire Police and other organisations who have been nominated for their special efforts.

The UK experienced its coldest winter since 1979 with an average temperature of 1.4C in Yorkshire – 2.1 degrees below the long term average, according to the Met Office. In Yorkshire there were 50.9 days of frost – 12.9 days more than the average winter.

Some people walked for miles through snow to get to work, others worked all night to clear roads and went above and beyond the call of duty to carry out their roles.

Those being praised at Halifax Minster will include staff from Wellholme Park Children’s Centre in Brighouse who spent hours getting to work to ensure children weren’t turned away.

Council volunteers manned a rescue team to help people in difficult and potentially fatal situations and healthcare staff walked for miles, sometimes through the night, to make sure they could visit patients in their homes.

The Rev Hilary Barber, the Vicar of Halifax, said: “This event is about thanking everyone who made tremendous efforts to get into work and keep services running during the severe winter. It’s really fantastic to hear about some of the lengths people went to putting customers and members of the public first, and carrying out their jobs in difficult conditions.”