Heavy snowfalls bring crashes and queues to North East’s major roads
HEAVY snow brought traffic to a standstill around the North East’s major roads.
Drivers were stuck in gridlock on the A1 around Durham with snowfall causing dangerous conditions, and a number of crashes on a stretch of the road.
There were severe delays on the road in both directions between junction 59 at Aycliffe and junction 62 at Carrville throughout yesterday morning.
Although England is under a third national lockdown, key workers are still commuting and drivers are also permitted to head out for essential shopping and medical appointments.
Once the collisions had been cleared, there were still lasting delays with cars moving at just 10mph through the worst of the congestion.
Traffic queued back for four miles on the A19 northbound near Sunderland after a crash on the road.
The road had been cleared by around 1.15pm with both lanes reopened but traffic was still heavy near to the A690 turn off.
Vehicles also became stranded on the A690 heading eastbound toward the A19 junction due to the bad weather conditions.
Elsewhere, there were long delays on the A181 near Thornley and on the A167 at Thinford in County Durham caused by heavy snowfall and traffic diverting from the A1.
A snow and ice warning was still in place until the end of the day with Durham Constabulary officers urging people to stay at home and keep the roads clear for key workers.
Highways England traffic officers were working to clear the roads.
It said: “If you have to travel please allow appropriate time for your journey and make sure you are driving to the conditions.”