Fallen trees, scattered debris and road closures cause travel misery

goods vehicle at Scammonden Bridge led to two lanes being shut on the M62 westbound between junctions 22 and 23. The motorway was shut to high-sided vehicles between junctions 22-24 in both directions, so too was the M1 at Tinsley Viaduct, the A628 Woodhead Pass over the Pennines.

Leeds City Council warned commuters that the Bridgewater Place junction would close over safety concerns, but it did not stop severe delays on city centre roads. Bridge Street in Bradford was shut to traffic and in Kirklees, the A640 New Hey Road between Outlane and Manchester was closed in both directions, as was a section of the A635 Woodhead Road between Holmfirth and Greater Manchester. Numerous routes in North Yorkshire were blocked by fallen trees.

Train services were hit with fallen trees blocking lines between Sheffield and Huddersfield. Overhead line problems hit the Leeds-Doncaster route and services between Leeds and Ilkley and Skipton. A tree on the line halted services between Knottingley and Wakefield.

Northern Rail said the severe weather conditions meant it was unable to provide rail replacement services by road across the network.

Northern Powergrid said its major incident response plan was in operation. Extra engineering and contact centre staff were drafted in to carry out repairs and field calls. Residents took to Twitter to share news of power cuts, with residents in York, Bradford, Brough in East Yorkshire, Sowerby Bridge and the Ecclesall Road area of Sheffield reporting blackouts.

Icy conditions were forcecast on higher ground overnight and North Yorkshire County Council said its gritting team would be out on priority roads in Harrogate, Thirsk and parts of Skipton this morning.

Flood-hit communities meanwhile are braced for more rain. The Met Office forecasts 70mm of rain by Friday in the West Country - more than the region normally gets in the whole of February. South Wales, western Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of southern England are also likely to be deluged, and there are still 14 severe flood warnings in place in the Thames Valley.

Prime Minister David Cameron chaired a second Cobra meeting last night where he was assured that efforts were continuing around the clock to restore power and train services and re-open roads that had been forced to close.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney last night warned the chaos threatened to derail Britain’s economic recovery.

Cameron defends floods spending: Page 4.