Travel chaos in North West as new severe weather warning for ice issued by Met Office
Video report by ITV Granada Reports correspondent, Rob Smith.
A new severe weather warning for ice has been issued for the North West after a night of heavy snow caused hours of disruption for drivers.
The warning will come into force for the vast majority of the region from 9:30am on Friday until 10am on Saturday 11 March, as temperatures plummet below zero.
It comes after snowstorms and heavy winds across the region overnight, which caused dangerous driving conditions on motorways and train cancellations.
Some vehicles heading east across the Pennines from Greater Manchester on the M62 overnight were stranded for several hours due to the conditions.
Greater Manchester Police’s traffic officers said: “(We are) doing our best, but ploughing/gritting have been severely delayed due to the hard shoulder and red X lanes being blocked by some drivers illegally using them.”
Highways England say drivers are still experiencing severe delays on Friday morning (9:30am) of at least three hours on the eastbound carriageway between J20 Rochdale and J24 Huddersfield. Snow ploughs continue to work along the motorway to clear this up.
The RAC say the problem was only made worse by drivers overtaking slower moving traffic "only to find themselves stuck in a lane of fresh snow".
RAC breakdown spokesman Rod Dennis said: “A substantial amount of snow falling in a very short space of time can quickly lead to problems even if a road has been treated, and it looks like that’s what happened on the M62 overnight."
He added: “Things are thankfully now improving but the scenes of stranded drivers is the perfect reminder of why it’s so important to carry a warm blanket, a winter coat, extra layers, food and drink and a power bank and phone-charging cable.”
Some people travelling from Liverpool Airport are experiencing serious disruption to flights.
One passenger said his EasyJet flight to Belfast was sitting on the tarmac for almost three hours. He said: "We boarded at 09:15, but the de -icing equipment broke."
A spokesperson from Liverpool John Lennon Airport said: "We have experienced disruption this morning due to snowfall, but we are currently open and remain operational."Please check with your airline for up-to-date-information."
Some Merseyrail services that were cancelled due to the snowy weather are resuming.
Commuters are advised to check Merseyrail Service for updates.
Bin services are also cancelled in some areas of the North West. Rochdale Borough Council says there will be no waste collections in the Pennines area on Friday for safety reasons.
General waste, garden and food and recycling will be rescheduled to next week.