Headlines: Snow, floods, playhouses and a beaver

The snow dominated the headlines across the West of England earlier this week after falls disrupted travel on the roads and buses, and closed Bristol Airport.

Later in the week, the flooding was causing problems across parts of the region, particularly across Gloucestershire.

Rising levels of flu and norovirus were also widely reported, as well as toothpaste tube recycling.

And the first sighting of a beaver on the Somerset Levels caused excitement amongst wildlife experts.

Snow closed the runway at Bristol Airport on Tuesday for the second time in recent days, causing flights to be suspended.

Gloucestershire Live reported on the widespread flooding which closed a number of roads - including the A417 and A40 on Friday - and the warnings not to risk driving through flood waters.

Rail services were affected at the beginning of the week between Bristol Parkway, Swindon and Gloucester, as well as some bus services in Bristol.

Flood alerts and warnings have remained in place this weekend for areas in Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire.

The high levels of flu and norovirus have caused consternation this week as hospitals across the West have declared "critical incidents".

Services have been "extremely busy" at hospitals in Gloucestershire, Yeovil, Taunton and Salisbury.

Bosses at Bath's Royal United Hospital have been urging people to treat non-emergency illnesses at home.

And Southmead Hospital in north Bristol is asking patients, staff and visitors to wear surgical face masks to combat a surge in numbers.

Salisbury Journal sparked a lot of comment after posting a story about staff at Salisbury District Hospital spending almost £750,000 to park at work last year.

New figures from NHS England show that the Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust earned £1.7m in total in car parking fees from patients, visitors and staff, in the 2023/24 financial year.

In the same period the trust spent £154,000 on parking services.

Senior reporter, Tom Leaman, quoted the national secretary of the GMB union, Rebecca Harrison, saying: "Health workers are on their knees. They need help and support. Charging them to park is kicking them while they are down."

There was a big response to Somerset Waste Services announcing that you can now recycle toothpaste tubes from the comfort of your home.

It is one of the first areas to launch the service after more brands have simplified their packaging to a single plastic tube.

The tubes can be placed in blue recycling bags and householders are being urged to "squeeze as much toothpaste out of them as possible" so that only the plastic remains.

ITV News West Country covered the Somerset couple who have "spent decades" building huge period playhouses in their garden for their grandchildren.

Angela and Alban Bunting, who live in Binegar, have created a cottage, a timber-framed Elizabethan house and a Victorian post office.

They now attract lots of visitors to their home, especially young children.

"They absolutely adore it and they take over and I find then running from one house to another with bags of pretend shopping, or making cups of tea inside," said Mrs Bunting.

The Somerset Leveller published a photograph of a beaver on the Somerset Wetlands, believed to be the first sighting.

Staff at the Avalon Nature Reserve near Glastonbury found evidence of the creatures patrolling the area over the Christmas break after they found a tree that had been gnawed.

Luckily, one beaver was caught on a wildlife camera, but as a protected species, the exact location of where the activity was discovered cannot be released.

"We believe the beavers have arrived to the area naturally – dispersing from the surrounding areas of the River Brue, and as yet we have limited knowledge of how many there are," said a spokesperson for the reserve.