HUNDREDS of drivers are still making their way home this evening as the wintry weather brings traffic chaos to the North-East.

Throughout County Durham there are reports of nose to tail traffic, with journeys of a few minutes taking several hours.

Northern Echo chief reporter Tony Kearney made it  to his home 15 miles from his office in Durham at 10.30pm.

"It is absolutely unbelievable. It took me three-and-a-half hours to cross Durham city," he said.

"It is absolutely nose to tail. It was about an hour a mile. The weather is fine, there seems to be no weather reason for it. We have had about a centimetre of snow and that's about it.

"I heard on the radio tales of woe from Tyneside, Chester-le-Street, Peterlee. Everywhere just seems to be at total gridlock."

His Northern Echo colleague, Gavin Engelbrecht, suffered similarly.

He left the office to travel to the Sage in Gateshead for a classical concert, but arrived too late after it took two hours to complete the trip.

He fared no better on the journey back to his home.

"Every road seems to be blocked off," he said after reaching the ironically named Sunniside. "The road past Lobley Hill is closed, so I came through Whickham. The road to Burnopfield they say you can't get through. I have now doubled back to Sunniside and it's just gridlock. There are no cars moving, there are hundreds and hundreds on the road and lining the side.

"I am about an hour's walk from home. I have got my suit on, I wasn't expecting this."

Let us know your experiences of the journey home. Email comments and pictures to newsdesk@nne.co.uk