SNOW and sub-zero temperatures brought chaos to the region with more than 160 crashes closing roads, including the A1(M).
As temperatures fell in the early hours of yesterday, police and fire crews were kept busy by a number of incidents on the A1(M) between junction 59, near Darlington, and as far south as junction 47, where the road meets the A59.
The A19 and A168 were also the scene of accidents yesterday as temperatures fell as low as -10C in some parts of North Yorkshire.
The first incident happened at 2.15am on the northbound carriageway of the A1(M) where a HGV skidded off the road, followed by a number of other accidents as drivers were caught out by the ice.
The closure of the A1(M) brought long delays as drivers were forced onto the A59 and A19.
A police spokesman said: “The police, the fire service, ambulance and the Highways Agency all worked together to ensure that any occupants of the vehicles involved were safe and despite the number of reports received there were very few injuries reported, none of which were serious or life threatening.
“The Highways Agency had salted the roads in this area on Sunday night, but unexpected showers washed away the salt and the rain started to freeze due to low ground temperatures. The roads in the area were covered in sheet ice which contributed to the collisions.”
Despite the conditions and number of incidents, no one was seriously hurt and York Hospital reported no major increase in emergency patients.
There were only two reported incidents in the Selby district, with one crash on the A19 near Barlby resulting in a woman being taken to hospital suffering from shock, shortly after 11am.
Meanwhile, a gritter belonging to City of York Council was put out of action yesterday after one of it’s windows was smashed by a snowball in the Manor Park area.
Coun Dafydd Williams, cabinet member for communities and neighbourhoods, said: “We don’t know if the person who threw the snowball meant to damage the vehicle, but because the snow has frozen overnight and turned to ice, when it’s thrown it can cause some serious damage.”
“So, all we’re asking is to think twice and don’t throw things at our gritters.
“After all, our fleet of gritters are here there to help residents and we can’t do that when they are off the road.”
The Met Office is predicting the freezing temperatures will continue throughout the week. Today should see temperatures reach 1C during the day, though that could drop as low as -5C tonight.
Winter wakes up
THERE we were, thinking we might just get away without a repeat of the blizzards that blasted us a year ago. And then nature had a change of heart, and in a few short hours dumped a whole winter’s worth of snow on us.
It was as pretty as a picture and the children had fun. But the icy conditions brought the predictable chaos on roads and railways.
The bad news is that the cold snap looks set to continue for much of the week. The good news? Well, having started so late, winter surely can’t last too long this year? Can it?
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