Tracks braced for cold snap with Carlisle inspecting for Tuesday fixture

The end to the dry weather this week might be welcomed generally, but it will pose problems for some racecourses with Carlisle forced into calling an inspection for Tuesday's meeting.

With a yellow warning for snow and ice in place for large parts of northern England, North Wales and Scotland, fixtures are under threat due to the extreme change in weather. 

Carlisle was described as raceable on Monday morning despite freezing overnight temperatures, but an 8am raceday check has been scheduled in light of the forecast. Frost sheets will be deployed to take-offs, landings, crossings and other vulnerable areas of the course.

Clerk of the course Harry Phipps said on Monday: "We've called an inspection for 8am tomorrow given the yellow weather warning as well as the consecutive night of overnight temperatures going below zero.

"We were raceable this morning having reached lows of -2C on the main part of the course and -3.5C at the lowest part. 

"We've got a similar set of temperatures overnight as well as similar daytime temperatures of 2C, and we'll continue to monitor conditions."

The Met Office issued the yellow warning with daytime temperatures lower than average for mid-November along with some very cold and frosty nights.

Hexham's fixture on Wednesday could be subject to an inspectionCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Fakenham officials are keeping an eye on the weather for its meeting on Tuesday.

"We'll monitor things throughout the day in case we need to call an inspection," said clerk of the course David Hunter.

"It's going to be a wet night with rain, sleet and possible snow flurries, but at the moment any weather causing any problems is north of us and we're not in the yellow warning area.

"We're going from one extreme to another in a 24-hour period and hopefully most of the wet weather will come overnight as it's due to lessen tomorrow."

Frost is a concern for Hexham's fixture on Wednesday, with an inspection likely to be called if the forecast proves correct.

Clerk of the course James Armstrong said: "We'll have to see what temperatures materialise. The risk of snow and precipitation is minimal and most of the racecourse is raceable after we got down to -2C last night and we'd expect to be completely raceable by midday.

"Temperatures are not expected to go below -1C for the next two nights, but it's how long it stays sub-zero that tends to be the problem. 

"We'll see what tomorrow morning brings. If the forecast is correct, we probably will have to look but it's most likely going to have be on the morning of racing." 

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