A three-lorry collision on the A1 northbound ihas blocked the carriageway about three miles north of Alnwick, Northumbria Police say.

Nobody has been seriously injured but the road will be closed for some time.

The road is moving southbound but is slow.

Here's the view from the A1 in Northumberland:

Durham Police have issued an update about roads in the county.

One lane of the A68 between Tow Law and Castleside is now open and "passable with extreme caution", and the A1(M) northbound between J61 and J62 is now open too.

Parents can come and collect children early from school because of deteriorating weather.

We all know it's cold today but how do we compare with other cities around the world.

In Newcastle, it's between -2C and -3C at the moment while in Yakutsk in Russia it's a mindblowing -26C and -19C in Baker Lake Canada.

You can put your postcode in here.

Here's another shot from the Press Association's Owen Humphreys in Whitley Bay.

You can see the snow ploughs and gritters have got their work cut out today to clear the roads.

Image source, PA

There is snow thick snow in Weardale - Patrick Oulton sent us this photo which he took earlier near Frosterley.

Image source, PATRICK OULTON

There are reports of up to 4ft of snow in parts of rural Northumberland, Northumbria Police say.

They say a number of vehicles are stuck in the Doddington area of Berwick and road conditions are treacherous.

South Tyneside Council says its four gritting wagons and towable gritter are out and about in a bid to relieve the problems on the roads in the borough.

It says "priority routes", which cover just over 310km of carriageway, have been treated with rock salt and ploughing has been undertaken.

A spokeswoman said: “Our gritters have been treating our priority one network round the clock but continued snow and drifting are making driving conditions hazardous.

"Please only drive if necessary and according to local conditions."

There has been an amber warning for snow across much of the North East from the Met Office since 06:00 and that warning remains in place until 18:00 tomorrow.

Frequent and heavy snow showers are expected and that has already caused major disruption to travel and led to more than 100 schools being closed.

You can read more here., external

And here is the latest forecast from Carol Kirkwood.

Almost 700 schools across the North East are closed today because of the heavy snow.

In County Durham alone, more than 230 schools are shut.

You can see the full list if closures in each area here.

Newcastle school closures, external

Northumberland school closures, external

Gateshead school closures, external

Durham school closures, external

Darlington school closures, external

Middlesbrough school closures, external

Redcar and Cleveland School closures, external

North Tyneside school closures, external

Hartlepool school closures, external

Stockton school closures, external

The heat lamps are out at Middlesbrough FC as they try to defrost the pitch ahead of their match against Leeds on Friday:

Here's the snow in Whitley Bay as wintry conditions cause more misery for travellers:

Image source, PA

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Heavy snow and black ice is causing treacherous conditions on roads, Northumbria Police say.

They say the freezing temperatures mean there is black ice under snow and they say while gritters have been out the continuous snow means conditions are very bad.

All the major routes are passable with care but they says there will be delays and it will be slippy. They say visibility due is very poor.

They are urging people to leave extra time for their journeys and not to travel if it is not necessary.

Apparently the heaviest snow in the UK overnight was at Redesdale Camp in the Northumberland National Park.

It had 16cm (5in) at 06:00:, external

Image source, WeatherOnline