Yorkshire grinds to a halt... and there's two more weeks of this

THE worst winter weather for 30 years saw wholesale transport disruption across Yorkshire.

On the railways, Northern Rail said overhead wire difficulties caused delays to services between Skipton/Bradford Forster Square and Leeds.

Around 80 schools were closed in West Yorkshire, and a similar number in North Yorkshire.

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Meanwhile, on the roads Leeds City Council has revised its gritting programme to focus on the most important routes.

Highways officers in Leeds said they had enough salt to grit the city's 800-mile (1,290 km) primary road network at least twice a day - including just before each morning rush-hour - for at least the next 10 days.

As a result the council has stopped responding to requests for salting of footways and will not be gritting secondary routes or refilling grit bins across the city.

Andrew Carter, leader of Leeds City Council, said: "The forecast is for conditions to remain cold for at least another two weeks and we have to ensure we can keep the main roads salted for the whole of this period."

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Major airports across the country including Leeds/Bradford remained open, but passengers were warned to expect delays.

And the conditions are set to continue, with an icy wind sweeping across the UK in the next few days, making wintry temperatures feel even colder, forecasters said.

Stronger easterly winds will grip eastern parts of England before spreading across the UK throughout the weekend. This will make temperatures feel as low as minus 10C (14F) in northern England on Saturday, the Met Office said.