North East temperature drops to lowest in decade

Icicles formed at Summerhill Force and Gibson's Cave in Teesdale, County Durham

Temperatures dropped to -12C (10F) in parts of the North East overnight, making it the coldest since 2010.

Chillingham Barns in Northumberland recorded the region's lowest temperature, with -10.2C (13.6F) also reached at Kielder Castle.

A yellow weather warning is in place for snow and ice until Friday across the region.

The lowest UK temperature was -22.9C (-9.2F) in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, making it the coldest recorded since 1995.

Derwent Water almost completely froze over in 2010

Derwent Water in the Lake District also partially froze in the icy conditions, as it often does in winter.

The Met Office said thermometers plummeted due to an "extreme freeze".

In Middlesbrough "hundreds" of people had turned out to Flatts Lane Country Park

Paul Jones, Northumberland County Council's director of local services, said road surface temperature gauges showed -9.1C (15.6F).

"Salt starts losing its effectiveness around about -10 so thankfully, [it was] the right side of the line but certainly very, very cold.

"There is a lot of ice and snow still about so it is a case of being very careful out there."

Snow blanketed the hillsides in Teesdale

In North Tyneside gritters trying to plough the snow on Wednesday said they saw vehicles travelling at about 60mph (96km) on the A189 Spine Road,

Steve Whitworth, the council's operations and logistics manager, said: "When you can physically see snow obviously drivers take care. When you have black ice it's more difficult.

"We are out there for a reason. Take care."

Derwent Water is picturesque whatever the weather

In County Durham, a team of gritters had been out on the road network since 04:00 GMT following heavy snow on Wednesday, which forced 70 schools to close.

"It's a little bit better, the snow showers have eased a little but those freezing temperatures are still causing problems," said Mark Readman, the county council's highways manager.

"The traffic volumes are less, so there are less people on the road which is a benefit. We do need traffic on salt to crush it and get it worked through the salt and ice so that has caused us problems."

BBC Weather Watcher Tillycat captured this scene in Slaley, Northumberland

Mr Readman told BBC Radio Newcastle that fewer people had been "stranded" because not so many "sightseers" were travelling to rural areas to check out the snow.

Meanwhile Cleveland Police said it had received reports of "hundreds of people" travelling to Flatts Lane Country Park in Middlesbrough on Wednesday evening.

It issued a warning after people were "abandoning" vehicles on Flatts Lane because the car park was full, and more than 30 vehicles were causing "an obstruction" which was "a danger" to other motorists.

A fight was also reported there just before 17:00 GMT.