Pictures: Here's why emergency services were out in force at Hemel's Snow Centre

Responders from Hertfordshire’s fire and rescue, ambulance and police services, supported by partners, were out in force at the leisure facility on St Albans Hill.

The reason? A rescue mission after a five-car collision during a snowstorm at night.

But thankfully it was only a real-time training exercise to prepare the emergency services for such incidents in extreme conditions.

The training drill tested the plans of Hemel Hempstead’s emergency services as they worked together to assist casualties and make the area safe in extreme weather conditions, as cold as minus six degrees, on the Snow Centre slope.

Responders carried out a rescue as part of Hertfordshire’s Local Resilience Forum’s mantra of hoping for the best but planning for the worst.

Alex Woodman, Chief Fire Officer and Chair of the Hertfordshire Local Resilience Forum, said: “As a Local Resilience Forum, we always hope for the best but plan for the worst, so the opportunity to bring together so many partners for a live exercise in real-world extreme weather conditions has been invaluable.

“We would also like to express our gratitude to all those at the Snow Centre in Hemel for hosting us and making this vital training a reality.

“Exercise Frostbite demonstrated the close and well-tested partnership working that already exists, giving our residents the reassurance that we have the capability no matter the conditions to keep people and property across the county safe.”

Exercise participants usually include Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, Hertfordshire County Council, Hertfordshire Constabulary, the county’s borough and district councils, the East of England Ambulance Service and Hertfordshire colleagues across the NHS.

Superintendent Diane Whiteside, from Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Local Policing Command commented: “This exercise provided a valuable training opportunity for our response teams to practise their procedures, acting quickly to assist casualties and make the area safe, working with ambulance and fire and rescue services in extreme cold weather.”

Steven Moore, Head of Emergency Preparedness and Specialist Ops at EEAST, said: “Taking part in multi-agency training exercises such as Frostbite is essential for an emergency service such as ours. Our frontline crews need to take part in regular training so that when they are needed in a real-life incident, they are ready and know what their role is.

"We work closely with our partners in the fire, police and other services when responding to emergencies. That partnership working then extends to our acute hospital partners when we transport patients to hospital for further care. Although our roles are different, the skills we bring complement each other to give patients the best possible care and chance of survival.”

HLRF is a partnership of over 60 organisations who plan and train together to provide the quickest and most effective response to incidents and emergencies. HLRF also works to inform Hertfordshire residents, businesses and organisations about the risks they face and what they can do to prepare for them.

These risks include extreme hot and cold weather, flooding, cyber attacks, utilities failure and disruption, flooding and terrorism. You can find out more about these and advice on how to prepare at: hertfordshire.gov.uk/ready25