Snow and ice bring travel disruption and warnings

The Met Office has issued warnings for snow and ice across North Yorkshire

Police have warned motorists in North Yorkshire to take extra care as snow and ice warnings came in to force across the county.

A yellow weather warning is in place across much of the region until midnight on Thursday.

A separate amber warning has been issued for Thursday, suggesting "significant" snow could accumulate over the North York Moors and parts of the Yorkshire Wolds.

North Yorkshire Police said "a number of locations" across Ryedale had already come to a halt due to the weather and warned of further possible travel delays.

The Met Office said the amber warning could see "as much as 15 to 25 cm" of snow accumulate on hills and was likely to cause "significant disruption".

Snow has fallen across large parts of North Yorkshire captured here at Darley, in Nidderdale, near Harrogate

Police said on Wednesday morning that in Ryedale officers from the Roads Policing Team were deployed to Black Hill on the B1363 after a lorry became stuck in the snow.

A spokesperson said: "We were initially called due to a vehicle off the road. Other officers are also on Sutton Bank where the conditions have also worsened, and traffic is backing up."

An amber warning is in place for snow in parts of North Yorkshire for Thursday

North Yorkshire Council said it had gritted all priority roads in all areas overnight.

However, the authority said drivers should remember gritting does not guarantee an ice or snow-free surface.

"Enough traffic needs to drive over a gritted road to grind the salt in and activate it," a spokesperson said.

"Only then will the melting process begin. Any fresh snow will land on a gritted surface."

Karl Battersby, the authority's corporate director for environment, said: "We've started to have some particular issues around Chop Gate and Clay Bank up towards Stokesley and Helmsley."

He said Sutton Bank had been closed due to an accident earlier but had reopened.

City of York Council said it had been treating and gritting around 360 miles (579km) of roads, footpaths and cycle paths in the city.

Gritters have been treating roads and footpaths in York

A number of tourist attractions announced they planned to be closed on Wednesday, including Brimham Rocks, near Harrogate, and Rievaulx Abbey, near Helmsley.

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