Image source, Lucy Maeder
There are multiple reports of vehicles being stuck
A major incident has been declared by police in Cumbria after heavy snowfall.
Cumbria Police said it estimated about 200 vehicles were stuck in the South Lakes area, particularly around Bowness and Grizedale.
It urged people only to travel if necessary.
Earlier an amber warning for snow was issued by the Met Office, which said 10-15cm (4-6in) was possible in some areas before snowfall eased overnight.
Supt Andy Wilkinson, of Cumbria Constabulary, said the weather was “showing no sign of letting off” and freezing temperatures down to -8.8C (16F) were expected overnight.
“Please don’t travel,” he said.
“It isn’t safe this evening and it is causing a hindrance to the emergency and other response services getting to those individuals that actually do need us to get there.
“We are doing everything possible from a multi-agency perspective to clear the roads that we know are blocked, to get to those individuals we are aware of that are in vehicles or in isolated locations.”
Roads ‘very dicey’
A group of friends from the Wigton area said they had not expected the severe weather and became stuck after trying, and failing, to get into Windermere.
Nicki Simpson said they set off at 13:00 GMT “all ready to go out, Christmas tunes blasting” but ended up stuck on the motorway some hours later.
“We couldn’t physically get into Windermere, the car couldn’t get up the hill, so we tried a few different routes into Windermere but, by this point, they’re all unpassable so we turned round,” she said.
She said traffic was moving “very, very slowly” and it was “very, very dicey”.
“Everyone’s in the middle [of the road], you can’t see the lanes and there’s lorries jack-knifed,” she said.
However, Ms Simpson said some patches of motorway were completely clear and they had passed one gritter and some tractors going to help stuck cars.
Speaking from the M6, she said she and her friends were “not equipped for a night on the motorway”.
Image source, Jean Raftery
Earlier in the day just a sprinkling of snow fell in the Eden Valley
Supt Wilkinson said reports suggested there were about 200 vehicles stuck in the south of the county.
“Whilst we are getting through to those locations we are undertaking vulnerability assessments as to who is in what vehicles and what care, if any, they then need, or whether they are just going to sit it out wait for the roads to become clear,” he said.
He urged drivers leaving their car to move it to the side of the road as far as possible.
“Some of our additional snow ploughs and gritters that are attempting to get through now are being hindered by poorly abandoned vehicles,” he said.
Available police officers had been deployed to the south of the county, along with fire and rescue crews, ambulance and mountain rescue teams, he added.
The following roads are among those affected:
- A591 Kendal – queuing traffic between the A5284 Windermere Road to Wythburn
- A591 at Newby Bridge – queuing traffic between Newby Bridge and Windermere
- A591 Lake Road – queueing traffic between Skelwith bridge and Ambleside
- A595 Kirkby-in-Furness – queuing traffic between Kirkby-in-Furness and Grizebeck
- A6 Wickersgill – queueing traffic between Wickersgill to Garth Row
- B5286 Clappersgate – queuing traffic between Clappersgate and Hawkshead
- Harras Road in Whitehaven – queuing traffic between York Terrace and Red Lonning
- Woodhouse Road in Whitehaven – queuing traffic between the B5345 St Bees Road and Fell View Avenue
Image source, Mark Hatton
Several inches of snow have fallen in Ambleside already
The Met Office warned disruption to transport and power cuts were likely and mobile phone coverage could also be affected.
There was a “good chance that some rural communities could become cut off”, it added.
An emergency shelter has been set up at Ambleside parish centre on Vicarage Road for anyone stranded.
Police said there was little accommodation in the town and the hall was open for anyone within walking distance, but stressed people should not try to get there by car.
Coniston Sports and Social Centre is also offering space for people who are stuck and need to stay overnight and asks that they arrive by 21:00 GMT.
Image source, Mark Hatton
The snow does have some positives
Derek Campbell, who is visiting the county on holiday from the south of France, said he and his friends had been stationary in their car near Staveley for about three hours.
“We’ve come all the way up from the Pyrenees where we’re used to this sort of weather,” he said.
“I’m really not knocking the services here, because they deal with what they can, but we’ve got all the snow ploughs, they go out, they keep the roads clear all the time and we drive straight on up to the top of the mountain and we ski down it again.
“But, sadly you’re not as lucky as us here.”
National Highways North West said it was dealing with a large number of stranded vehicles, particularly on the M6 between junctions 38 and 40.
The A590 was also heavily affected, it said, while urging people not to drive unless “absolutely necessary”.
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter cookie policy and privacy policy before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
End of Twitter content
As well as the amber warning for south and west Cumbria there is a yellow warning for snow and ice in place for the whole county for the rest of Saturday.
The UK Health Security Agency has issued an amber cold-health alert for the health sector for the North West, along with a number of other regions in England, saying “significant impacts are probable”.
The alert is due to remain in place until Tuesday.
