Heavy snow brings disruption to Yorkshire

Heavy snow brought disruption across Yorkshire on Sunday, with weather warnings in place across the region.

Commuters faced problems due to trains, buses and trams being cancelled and roads being closed.

Leeds Bradford Airport's runway was closed for more than six hours as snow covered the runway.

Thousands of Yorkshire homes were also affected by power cuts, due to heavy snow and freezing temperatures.

An amber warning for snow remains in place until midnight on Sunday, while a yellow warning for heavy rain is in place until 06:00 GMT on Monday.

Southern parts of Yorkshire also have a yellow warning for snow until 12:00 on Monday.

National Highways put a severe weather alert in place for snow for England until midnight on Sunday.

It warned up to 25cm (10in) of snow could fall on roads in northern England, with several roads closed or down to one lane.

Two lanes of the M1 northbound were closed on Sunday morning due to a jackknifed lorry.

Speaking to BBC Radio Sheffield, one driver, Lee, described the M1 near Barnsley as "absolute carnage".

He said he had got stuck in about 7-8in (17-20cm) of snow returning home from his night shift in Doncaster.

He said: "There's police, there's lorry recovery trucks getting stuck trying to pull lorries out, there's cars getting stuck."

Meanwhile, on the A64, emergency services were supporting struggling cars and HGVs at Bilbrough Top near York.

BBC Look North reporter Nicola Rees spent the morning with Richard Smith and John Sanderson from Calder Valley Search and Rescue.

The team were transporting district nurse Karen Taylor from Todmorden to a remote patient needing antibiotics.

They also stopped to help stranded drivers on Cragg Road between Mytholmroyd and Todmorden.

When they arrived they met Wayne Duffey who was recovering from a knee operation.

He said he would not have received his essential antibiotics if Ms Taylor had not made it through the snow.

He said: "This morning I was panicking that she wouldn't be able to get here so when I looked out and saw them arriving it was such a relief. I'm so incredibly grateful.

"All morning we've had cars skidding around outside, even a tractor was struggling, so I'm amazed and so grateful these guys got through."

Leeds Bradford Airport reopened its runway at about 14:00 after it had been closed for about six hours.

A statement from the airport said disruption was expected to continue throughout the day due to a backlog of departing flights.

It advised customers to contact their airline for the latest updates.

The statement said: "Thank you to our customers for your continued patience and understanding, and a special thanks to our teams on the ground who have worked tirelessly to clear the snow."

Thousands of homes were left without power following the heavy snow and freezing temperatures.

According to Northern Powergrid, about 1,800 customers in Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire remained without power on Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Yorkshire Water said a problem with a pump meant some customers in Pontefract and Featherstone had no water or were experiencing low pressure.

Events were cancelled due to the snow.

In South Yorkshire, the Round Sheffield Run was cancelled due to safety reasons.

Braun Sheffield Sharks' basketball game against London Lions was also postponed.

The club said: "The safety of our fans, players, and staff is our top priority, and we appreciate your understanding."

All tickets will remain valid for the rescheduled date to be confirmed.

In West Yorkshire, the Piece Hall in Halifax closed, as did Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

A statement said it would be in touch with customers who had booked a ticket for today.

Leeds City Council said all Leeds Museums sites would be closed and, in North Yorkshire, Castle Howard closed due to the weather conditions.

It said heavy snowfall had made it impossible to open the site.

Dales Countryside Museum and Hawes National Park Visitor Centre were also closed.

Although disruptive for some, the snow didn't put off a group of North Yorkshire cold water swimmers who are taking outdoor dips every day this month to raise money for the homeless charity Crisis.

Louise Studd from the January Daily Dipper group said the 25 swimmers taking part this year have embraced the new challenge of swimming outdoors in the snow.

She said: "We consider this our vigil into the cold and the heavy fall of snow overnight has given us all a challenge this morning tougher than most days.

"However we are all privileged to have warm safe homes to return to.

"The month has started with some very cold temperatures and we are all reflecting on how this will be impacting those without a warm safe place to live."

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