Snow causes travel chaos and school closures across England

Weather warnings for ice and snow and icy conditions on the road have been issued by the Met Office

Snow in Oldham photographed by Liz Lancashire (Liz Lancashire - Twitter)

Snowfall has caused travel chaos and closed schools across northern England today.

The north of England has been blanketed with as much as 10cm of snow reported on high ground overnight.

More than 50 schools in Oldham, Greater Manchester, 28 in West Yorkshire, and eight in Leeds have been closed.

Heavy snowfall in East Lancashire has also closed up to 50 schools.

The Met Office has warned motorists to allow extra time for journeys because of icy conditions on the roads.

It has issued yellow ‘be aware’ weather warnings for snow and ice and hazardous conditions for Wales, north west England, Yorkshire and Humber, and the west and east Midlands.

The snowfall has led to motorway traffic stand-stills en route to Leeds, with a lorry reportedly overturning near Harrogate due to the difficult weather conditions.

By the early hours of today, more than an inch of snow had fallen across northern England.

Similar snowfall was recorded at Leek in Staffordshire and Shap in Cumbria, and several A roads were closed over the high Pennines in south Yorkshire.

Leeds Airport was forced to suspend all flights after 2-5cm fell overnight, with 10cm reported on higher ground. It has since reopened.

Strong, north-easterly winds and wintry showers in many places will ensure temperatures remain below normal at least until the middle of next week, the Met Office said.

With reporting by Press Association