North Yorkshire snow: Transport chaos leaves rural areas impassable

More than 150 schools were closed across the county and many businesses shut around lunchtime with the early rush-hour traffic causing huge tailbacks on major routes.

In York, First Bus cancelled all routes in the city, while North Yorkshire Police said there were more than 30 crashes on the county's roads, six of them serious. In one incident at 1.20pm on the B1257 between Malton and Hovingham, a pick-up truck flipped over on its side after skidding on the icy road. Nobody was injured.

Blakely Ridge in Kirbymoorside was impassable throughout the day while Sutton Bank, near Thirsk, was also shut. The A1 was closed southbound in the Leeming area after three accidents, but the northbound carriageway re-opened after an earlier closure. Snow drifted up to 4ft deep in the North York Moors, Yorkshire Dales and coastal areas.

Many of the schools shut were in the York and Selby areas, and the majority of them are expected to remain closed today.

There were also delays of up to two hours on train lines. North Yorkshire County Council deployed 200 vehicles - purpose-built gritters and farming contractors - to work around the clock. The council has used 14,000 tonnes of salt in the last two weeks and all highways staff - about 300 - have been diverted to deal with the winter conditions.