Traffic problems and power cuts as snow falls in parts of the region

HEAVY SNOW brought travel chaos to parts of Yorkshire yesterday.

Harrogate and Leeds were particularly badly hit, bringing many main roads to a halt.

Knaresborough Road, in Harrogate, turned almost into a car park as the traffic snaked through the town at a snail’s pace.

Schools in Harrogate still open after the lockdown closed early for the day, including Killinghall Primary School and St Aidan’s C of E High School.

Harrogate Bus Company took the decision to pause its services with the hope the weather would improve. Harrogate Borough Council tweeted that it was cancelling today’s recycling collections for the moment in the town.

In Leeds, a stranded lorry in Holt Lane, Adel, caused road delays, while in Horsforth, Tinshill Road between Otley Old Road and The Fox and Hounds pub was deemed impassable.

Meanwhile hundreds of homes suffered power cuts in Yorkshire.

A major outage has hit more than 700 Yorkshire homes as residents complain of losing power with Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax postcodes among those affected. The power cut was caused by an unexpected problem with the cables or equipment. Northern Powergrid said: “Our team are working hard to restore your power as quickly as possible.”

The Met Office had put a yellow weather warning in place for Leeds and Yorkshire from 5pm on Thursday to 11am yesterday and warnings of ice across most of the country today.

But the snow will pass for what forecasters are predicting will be a sunny but cold day across Yorkshire today.

It is forecast to be cloudier and breezier on Sunday with some rain and drizzle, but less cold.

Elsewhere, motorists in Scotland faced “challenging” driving conditions after heavy snow yesterday.

And in the North East police urge drivers to allow extra time for their journeys and to drive according to the conditions.