December 14 - In the UK, Teesport has remained 'open for business' in spite of being located on the North East coast, one of the areas hardest hit by the snow fall that has swept the country over the last two weeks.

A statement from the PD Ports Limited, the owner of Teesport, said the UK's ports have experienced a "severe impact on daily operations as a result of the weather".

However, "unlike some other east coast ports that have either been operating at reduced capacity, or have been forced to close for sustained periods, Teesport has implemented a daily 24-hour snow clearing and gritting operation. This has enabled the port to continue to operate safely and service a significant percentage of customers at the port estate and along the river," a statement said.

In particular, the engineering team at Teesport has been working hard to ensure sufficient resources and equipment have been available to successfully plough the snow away from roads and operational areas. This is said to have "significantly minimised" any impact the snow could have had on its daily services and access routes into and out of the port estate.

With weather forecasts predicting no let up in the freezing conditions for much of December, the hard efforts will continue to keep Teesport open for business in what has been an incredibly cold start to the winter season in the UK.