Here's a list of schools we know that have closed for Friday.

Tune into BBC Radio Manchester for the latest snow and school updates.

Image source, Peter Byrne/PA

• Christ Church C.E. Primary School, Chadderton
• Crompton House C.E. School
• Crompton Primary School
• Delph Primary School
• Diggle School East Crompton
• St George's C.E. Primary School
• Greenacres Primary School
• Greenfield Primary School
• Hodge Clough Primary School
• Holy Trinity C.E. Primary School
• Dobcross Horton Mill Community Primary School
• Alexandra Park Junior School
• Beal Vale Primary School
• Christ Church C.E. Primary School, Chadderton
• Kingfisher School
• Kingsland School
• Mayfield Primary School
• Mills Hill Primary School Newman RC College
• North Chadderton School
• Rushcroft County Primary School
• Saddleworth New School
• Springhead Community Infant and Nursery School
• St Agnes C.E. Primary School
• St Anne's R.C. Primary School
• St Edward's R.C. Primary School
• St Hilda's C.E. Primary School
• St Hugh's C.E. Primary School
• St Joseph's R.C. School
• St Luke's C.E. Primary School
• St Margaret's C.E. Primary School
• St Martin's C.E. Primary School
• St Patrick's R.C. Primary School
• St Paul's C.E. Primary School
• St Thomas Leesfield C.E. Primary School
• Stanley Road Primary School
• The Hathershaw College Academy Trust
• The Oldham Academy North
• Waterhead Academy Werneth Primary
• Woodhouses Voluntary Primary School
• Woodlands Primary Academy
• New Bridge School
• Hollinwood Academy
• New Bridge Learning Centre
• New Bridge College
• Future Finders College
• Cardinal Langely Roman Catholic High School
• Longdendale High School

Kim Ward was on her way home to Halifax from Manchester overnight, with various members of her family, when they became stranded in their car.

Image source, Kelvin Charles/@iwiizkiid

"We are still stranded at the moment," Kim told BBC Radio 5Live.

Kim, who went to a concert in Manchester with her sister-in-law, a niece and a friend, said they had considered not travelling last night, but had assumed their car - a 4x4 - would cope in the conditions.

But the return journey turned out to be considerably worse than expected.

"The M62 was shut, so we thought we would take the A road," she said.

"We thought we would be alright, but as we got higher and higher, it just got worse and worse.

"We spent a couple of hours completely stuck, freezing - we actually started nodding off in the car.

Merseyrail has cancelled all of its services across its network after Merseyside was hit by the heavy snow.

Image source, PA Media

The operator said it had to suspend all trains due to "extreme weather" at 06:08.

Merseyrail added that no replacement buses were in operation but it estimated services would be "back up and running" by 09:00.

It urged passengers to keep checking its Twitter feed for updates.

A severe weather warning, external from National Highways remains in place across the North West, North East and Midlands this morning.

Image source, Peter Byrne/PA

A spokesperson for the agency said: "We are managing traffic in the safest manner given the weather conditions."

Heavy snow overnight has also covered parts of Liverpool.

Image source, Peter Byrne/PA

Residents in Lee Park in Liverpool have woken up to a covering.

Image source, Peter Byrne/PA

The Met Office has issued three amber warnings for northern England, the Midlands, North Wales and Northern Ireland.

Other routes across the hills are also badly affected by the snow.

The A57 Snake Pass between Manchester and Sheffield is closed, as is the A628 Woodhead Pass to the north.

Derbyshire County Council said it was closing six roads because of the weather.

You can get the latest on England's major roads from National Highways, external

Danny Savage
North of England correspondent

For the area north of the M62, the snow didn’t really get going until after 19:00 on Thursday. It hasn’t let up much since.

What people in the amber weather warning zone in the north of England are now waking up to, is a deep covering. Key roads are closed, others are covered, some are impassable.

Expect many school closures to be announced imminently.

The forecast is for an improvement from mid-morning onwards but it won’t be before the poor conditions have set the tone for many people's day.

Simon King
BBC weather presenter and meteorologist

There has been a lot of snow overnight across the Peak District and Pennine regions. Strong winds have added to the atrocious conditions with drifting snow and blizzards.

Major disruption is likely to continue for a while yet with amber warnings still in force.

However, the snow will start to clear through the morning.

By this afternoon there’ll be lots of sunshine but any snow on the ground won’t be disappearing as it’ll remain cold and with temperatures below freezing tonight, ice will be a big problem on Saturday morning.

Many schools in Lancashire have closed for Friday after a amber severe weather warning was issued for parts of the region.

Here's a list of the schools we have so far in Rossendale, Pendle and Hyndburn that will not be opening today:

Image source, PA Media

Rossendale• Bacup & Rawtenstall Grammar • Alder Grange School, Rawtenstall • Haslingden High School • Broadway Primary School • All Saints' Roman Catholic High School • St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Rawtenstall

Pendle• Pendle Vale College, Nelson • Whitefield Infant School, Nelson • St John Southworth, Nelson • St Pauls Primary, Nelson • Kelbrook Primary School, Barnoldswick • Higham St John's CE Primary School • Lomeshaye Junior School • Reedley Primary School • Barrowford School • Wheatley Lane Methodist Voluntary Aided Primary School • Walverden Primary School, Nelson

Hyndburn• St Oswalds RC, Accrington• Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School, Accrington• All Saints Roman Catholic High, Rossendale• Green Haworth CE Primary, Accrington• Moor End Community Primary, Oswaldtwistle• St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary, Oswaldtwistle• St Peter's Church of England Primary School, Accrington• Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School, Oswaldtwistle• Hippings Methodist Primary Wheatley Lane Primary, Fence

Many schools in Lancashire will be closed today after an amber severe weather warning was issued for parts of the region.

Here's a list of the schools we have so far in Burnley, Ribble Valley and Blackburn with Darwen that will not open today:

Image source, PA Media

Burnley• St John's C.E. (VA) Cliviger, Burnley • Broadfield Specialist School, Burnley • Higham St John's Primary School • Burnley Springfield Community Primary School • Whittlefield Primary & Nursery in Burnley • Blessed Trinity College, Burnley • Sir John Thursby Community College • Unity College

Ribble Valley• Clitheroe Royal Grammar & Sixth Form, Clitheroe • St Josephs Primary, Hurst Green

Blackburn with Darwen• Hoddlesden St Paul's CE Primary School, Darwen • Newfield School, Blackburn

The ongoing cold spell has been caused by a storm named by the French weather service as Storm Larisa.

Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey said the storm has brought both low pressure - which lowers the temperature - and rain to the UK.

"We're on the northern side of the low pressure system and it's the southern side of that low pressure system that is going to be bringing particularly strong winds to parts of France," he said.

He added that the storm originated in the Atlantic before tracking its way eastward towards the UK.

"The weather fronts that are swirling around... have then been pushing into the cold air that has been in places across the UK and allowing that rain to start falling as snow," he said.

Things are still really bad on the M62 after some drivers got stuck for hours overnight.

There are delays of at least three hours eastbound between junction 20 at Rochdale and junction 24 at Huddersfield, according to a fresh update from National Highways.

And there are delays of at least 90 minutes on the westbound carriageway between junctions 24 and 22.

With severe weather in the region, National Highways has repeated its advice to only drive if strictly necessary., external

So what's causing all of these problems?

Well, there is an amber weather warning for snow in place for parts of our region... and a yellow one for the rest of us.

The amber warning, which started at 15:00GMT on Thursday, is in place until 12:00 GMT, according to the Met Office., external

"Heavy snow is likely to cause significant disruption," it said.

Winds over higher ground could lead to blizzard conditions, with temperatures as low as 0C (32F).

The good news is that temperatures are expected to climb pretty quickly as the day goes on.

You can check which schools are going to be closed today because of the snow and icy conditions via this link., external

Motorist Kelvin Charles told the BBC he and his partner had been stuck near Saddleworth for more than an hour and that, as of 02:00 GMT, there were "no signs as to when we're going to get off".

Image source, Kelvin Charles/@iwiizkiid

He said the hard shoulder had been cleared by a snow plough but strong winds meant it was quickly covered again with snow.

He also described some motorists becoming impatient and attempting to drive through the snow on the lanes that had been closed.

Drivers using the M62 have reported being stuck for hours between Rochdale in Greater Manchester and Huddersfield in West Yorkshire.

Motorists reported stationary traffic on the eastbound carriageway early on Friday morning.

National Highways said two lanes had been closed between junctions 20 and 22, leading to about six miles of tailbacks.

At 05:15 GMT it was reported that one lane had reopened.

Some motorists said strong winds were causing snow to drift back on to lanes just cleared by National Highways' snow ploughs.

A very good morning to you.

Right now parts of Greater Manchester and Lancashire are subject to an amber severe weather warning from the Met Office for snow and ice.

There are big problems on the roads - notably the M62 and other routes across the Pennines between Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire.

Stay with us for all of the latest updates on transport, school closures and other disrpution.