Video: Snow disrupts Yorkshire schools, traffic and travel

This vehicle crashed off the road at Emley after heavy snowfall.

Manchester Airport was closed and more than a dozen rail services between the city and Yorkshire were cancelled as the north west of England was hit hard by the wintry conditions.

Main roads in Durham and Yorkshire were also shut as the Highways Agency warned that heavy snow had fallen across the north.

And schools in Cumbria and Northern Ireland were forced to close as the fresh snow swept in.

Some passengers at Manchester Airport took to Twitter to vent their frustration.

Adrian Cole tweeted: “In Hale this morning and there’s about 10mm of snow, 2 mins up the road and they’ve shut Manchester airport!!! It’s only snow FFS!!”

Anna Kotsonouris tweeted that her husband had been “sitting on Tarmac waiting to disembark for over 1 hour”.

An spokesman responded by saying: “We cannot control the weather, our teams are fully ready to clear the snow but we must ensure the airfield is safe.”

Bus services have been severely affected in Sheffield after heavy snow fell all morning, producing significant accumulations on roads across the city.

First Group in South Yorkshire posted a message on its website which said: “Conditions are now severe and most routes affected or suspended - Please check.”

The message continued: “Snow is forecast to fall until the mid-afternoon so we will be checking routes constantly and updating customers as often as we can as information arises.

“Major disruptions across the city are causing major problems. We are suspending most services but running a core network on main roads to keep people moving as best we can.”

The company also reported problems in Rotherham.

Tram services in Sheffield were also effected by the blizzard with some routes blocked by abandoned cars as well as surface conditions.

Most of the secondary schools and large numbers of primary schools in Sheffield were closed, and cross-Pennine routes were badly affected.

The Snake Pass Inn, at the eastern end of the Snake Pass, between Sheffield and Manchester, tweeted: “Thinking of attempting the #SnakePass? Seriously don’t. High winds and heavy snow, can just about see where our car park is. #snowstormtim.”