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As much as 20cm fell and up to 15,000 homes in the North East and Yorkshire lost power, with 9,000 still without electricity as the day drew on, according to utility firm CE Electric.

Its head of customer services David Gill said: "All available field staff are working to respond to power disruptions and they won't down tools until the job is done."

More snow is expected on Friday, although the showers are forecast to be lighter.

Between Blackburn and Helmshore, Lancashire, the snow trapped 70 people in their vehicles. They were then helped by soldiers from the B Company 4th Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment in two 4x4 vehicles, as well as police and local authority staff.

Drivers were being warned of hazardous driving conditions on the M62 at Rishworth Moor in West Yorkshire. Heavy snowfall caused problems on the Woodhead and Snake Pass transpennine routes.

Snow was also falling in parts of South, North and East Yorkshire. A spokeswoman for North Yorkshire Police said "there are accidents all over the place" as the icy conditions caused vehicles to skid off the road.

She said: "There isn't an area that has not been affected. Cars are skidding off the road and blocking them."

Even low-lying communities in York have seen several inches of snow while routes across the Pennines and North York Moors have seen blizzard conditions and deeper snow.

In the Pennines, the A669 is closed both ways Chew Valley Road, Oldham and A6024, Woodhead Road, West Yorkshire.

Pool Bank and Old Pool Bank in north Leeeds were also closed this morning and there were long delays on the A65 from Ilkley into Leeds, with blockages at Guiseley and Yeadon.

Council chiefs said 30 gritters had covered the primary road network, which includes all the main routes within Leeds.

In North Yorkshire, the Settle by-pass was closed in both directions, and the A1(M) was reported closed northbound between Junction 56, the B6275 Hang Beck, and Junction 57, the A66(M), because of a jackknifed lorry. Traffic was queueing on the A64 near York.

Blockages were also reported at Catterick and Richmond.

Between 6am-10am 28 crashes were reported across Hambleton, Ryedale, Selby, Scarborough, Harrogate, Richmond and York.

One driver leaped clear from a fireball crash when his Peugeot 306 estate car left the B2685 and burst into flames after hitting a tree two miles out of Bedale.

Police said the male driver was able to get out and dial 999 for the fire service after apparently escaping injury.

A lorry driver also escaped unhurt when his vehicle jack-knifed on the A19 just before Thormanby village, blocking the road and causing two mile tailbacks stretching back to Carlton Husthwaite.

A car crashed into a ditch on the back road between Sand Hutton and Stamford Bridge near York. The female driver had a lucky escape and a tractor pulled the car free from the ditch just after 9am.

On the A169 near RAF Fylingdales, an ambulance was reported to have overturned in the snow. Nobody was injured and it is not believed the ambulance was on an emergency call or was carrying an patients. In New Earswick - bus slid into garden wall but no one was hurt.

North Yorkshire Police said road conditions across the county had improved during Thursday, although motorists were still warned to take care.

The main arterial routes throughout the county are now clear but minor roads continue to pose a problem to drivers.

On the M62 in East Yorkshire, two lanes were closed eastbound between Junction 37 at Howden and Junction 38 at North Cave, with speed restriction of 50 mph.

In South Yorkshire, the A57 Snake Pass was closed both ways at the A6101, Rivelin Valley Road.

More than 200 schools have been closed. Schools in West Yorkshire have been worst hit but others in South Yorkshire have also been closed or opened late, and around 30 are shut in North Yorkshire. Next page: List of school closures »

Passengers at Leeds Bradford Airport faced delays as heavy snow fell on the runway.

Most trains were running with minor or no delays. But buses throughout Yorkshire were badly hit, and at one point the West Yorkshire Metro website crashed under the strain of enquiries.

Buses between Harrogate and Leeds were cancelled, and delays were reported in Bradford, Wakefield, Huddersfield, Chickenley, Dewsbury, Keighley, Cookridge, Menston, Brackenwood, Mixenden, Illingworth and Pool Bank.

The following school buses have been suspended:

• Buses to all Bradford schools.


• All school buses operated by Transdev Keighley & District Travel.


• All school buses in Leeds.


• All school buses operated by Geldards Coaches.


• All school bus services run by Rollinsons including the South Craven and Steeton yellow buses.


• Yellow bus service M22 to North Halifax Grammar

Durham Police said the A66 transpennine road was closed westbound to motorists from North Yorkshire to Cumbria because of heavy snow.

A police spokesman said: "The road conditions have deteriorated and the road closure on the westbound carriageway has been initiated.

"The closure is from Scotch Corner to the Cumbrian border."

Around a dozen schools were closed in rural parts of Northumberland because of the weather.

MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said rain pushed the snow clouds away as the day progressed, but they were expected to return tomorrow.

Forecaster Tom Tobler said: "It does look like snow and sleet come back, but nothing like as heavy as today.

"It was very cold as the weather front came across and generated all this precipitation, which fell as snow."

The snow and sleet tomorrow should be confined to the higher ground in Northern England and Scotland.

Wales and the South West will become windy with showers easing off later, while it will be mostly dry elsewhere.

Over the next week or so, temperatures are forecast to be about average for December (4-7C in the daytime) with some unsettled showery weather before a drier weekend.

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