The bad weather conditions and snow caused by storm Emma in the last week has led to severe interruption to the lives of students and staff within the university.
Many timetabled events from within the university have also been brought to a severe standstill, having been cancelled or postponed by organisers and staff.
After the met office issued an amber warning for the Northeast region, snow and wind has caused severe disruptions to roads and public transport, causing delays and closures throughout the city.
The storm is causing unusual and severe conditions in the region, as local areas have been forecasted to experience as much as a 40cm blanket of snow, along with strong winds leading to snow drifts, severe wind chill and even the possibility of white lightning.
And while these snowy conditions may have made for some seriously aesthetic Instagram posts of campus, sadly it has also caused significant disruption to a series of events planned by NUSU.
Events affected by the wather include: The Inspiring Women’s conference, Creative Careers, The Wellbeing Fair, and a Day in the Life of Politics, Civil Service and Policy workshop.
Some of these events have been postponed and reorganised for later dates. The Inspiring Women’s conference will now be taking place on the 18th of May. Sarah Craggs, NUSU’s Welfare and Equality officer, states on the Welfare Fair’s Facebook page that the event will now be postponed until after Easter.
However, many others have been outright cancelled and will not be rescheduled.
while the University website states that is officially ‘open for business’, many students have experienced cancelled seminars and lectures
Sports and athletic events have also suffered due to the snow, causing interruption of scheduled matches and training sessions.
Izzy Reid, 2nd Year History Student and Tennis Society Social Secretary, commented: ‘The snow caused our tennis match to be cancelled this Wednesday - the other team weren’t able to get here due to transport issues, which is perfectly understandable. However, we received very little contact from the SU over the matter and spoke to the team ourselves directly.
"There was a clear lack of organisation from Lancaster and their plans involving travel and the snow".
And while the University website states that is officially ‘open for business’, many students have experienced cancelled seminars and lectures due to staff being unable to make it into work due to circumstances caused by these weather conditions.
The Marjorie Robinson Library was also forced to close early on the 28th of February as there was an insufficient number of staff, which meant the University could not keep the building running until its usual closing time of 12pm.
Newcastle University urges students to consider whether it is safe to travel to and from the University, particularly if travelling by car, after a series of serious car pile-ups occurred locally as a result of the ice and snow.
But students using public transport to commute to and from University have also experienced delays, after metro closures and interruption of bus services made public transport unreliable in the height of the storm last week.
