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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Abigail O'Leary

UK weather: Heavy snow hits UK bringing school closures and commuter chaos

Snow has hit parts of the UK this morning - bringing travel chaos and school closures for some.

The Met Office has issued snow warnings for northern parts and almost the whole of Scotland - predicting delays and cancellations to rail and air travel and poor driving conditions.

Across parts of Newcastle, vehicles have been left stranded on roads and a large number of schools across the north east are shut.

A lane on the A1 has been blocked causing severe traffic after a lorry was stranded.

Over 100 schools across County Durham are also closed, with a full list of those affected published on the council's website.

Snow on the A691 between A167, Sniperley roundabout in Durham, and the A692, Leadgate roundabout, is said to be causing "impassable" driving conditions.

A traffic officer talks to the driver of a crashed car near Leeming Bar in North Yorkshire after overnight snow hit parts of the UK (PA)

Buses across the region have also been affected, with Arriva North East tweeting: "Due to snow fall some services are having to stick to main roads, buses can't serve Oakerside, Shadforth, Ludworth, Rowley crescent at Esh Winning and service 7 cannot serve the market place heading towards Darlington."

The yellow weather warning for the north east is set to remain in place until 3pm today.

In Leeds, a number of schools have pushed back their opening time allowing students and staff to get to school safely.

Leeds Highways have been out on the roads overnight gritting key routes, although plenty of residential roads were still covered in thick snow first thing this morning.

West Yorkshire Police warned drivers to take extra care this morning.

A snowplough on the road at Leeming Bar in North Yorkshire (PA)
A truck drives through wintry conditions near Leeming Bar in North Yorkshire (PA)

In Leeming Bar in North Yorkshire, a car was pictured having skidded from the road early this morning.

They tweeted: "Snow and ice in parts of West Yorkshire this morning. Please take extra time to make your jounrney. Please clear any snow or ice from your vehicle before setting off."

In Scotland, a Met Office yellow weather warning for snow is in place until 10pm tonight.

Scotland has been hammered with severe weather in recent weeks, recording one of its wettest Februarys in 89 years.

The RAC across the country said it was braced for around 8,000 calls for help from stranded drivers.

A car skids from the road in Leeming Bar in Yorkshire (PA)
Those in Teesdale, County Durham, woke up to a thick blanket of snow this morning (Alamy Live News.)

Icy conditions could also persist across Scotland into tomorrow morning, the the possibility of temperatures plunging to as low as -4.

In Cumbria, police were warning drivers to exercise caution, and described conditions on the roads as "hazardous".

As well as the chill, flood waters were still causing risks across the country.

On Monday morning, one severe threat-to-life flood warning was in place for the River Severn at Shrewsbury, alongside more than 90 other flood warnings, and 182 less serious flood alerts across England and Wales.

The warnings and alerts stretched from St Ives, in south west Cornwall to Carlisle near the Scottish border.

The bleak outlook follows more than a fortnight of downpours and flooding that started with Storm Ciara, continued with Storm Dennis and kept going with the weekend's storms, which, contrary to some reports, have not been named by the Met Office.

Over the weekend, Environment Secretary George Eustice, defended the Prime Minister for not visiting flood-stricken areas, despite a third consecutive weekend of stormy weather.

Mr Eustice told Sky's Sophy Ridge On Sunday: "In a Cabinet Government it's not a one-man show, it's right that on certain operational things such as this that the Prime Minister will ask one of his Cabinet members to lead, I can't see anything wrong with that."

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