ARCTIC weather conditions generated a series of dramatic pictures as winter took hold across the region this weekend.

Storms and plummeting temperatures have led to a hostile environment over the last few days, but also given youngsters the chance to wrap up warm to enjoy their first taste of the season’s snowfall.

Award-winning County Durham photographer Paul Kingston captured striking images of huge icicles in Weardale, as well as heart-warming shots of children enjoying sledging at Overwater in Cumbria.

The pier at Saltburn, near Teesside, was closed at the weekend after damage was caused by the recent storms.

A spokesman for Redcar and Cleveland Council said: “Unfortunately, there has been some storm damage to the pier at Saltburn. We will be carrying out an assessment of the damage and are keeping people updated via our Facebook and Twitter accounts.

“We are expecting that there may be further debris at Redcar and Saltburn because of the high tides and we will be carrying out daily clean ups of the areas.

“We are sorry for any inconvenience caused.”

A Ukranian merchant seaman who suffered a suspected heart attack was evacuated from his ship four miles east of Sunderland in an dramatic operation, despite initially refusing to leave.

The UK Coastguard Operations Centre at Humber were radioed at 1pm on Friday by the captain of the 160m, 22,100tonne bulk carrier HC Jette-Marit informing them that his chief engineer was unwell.

Tynemouth RNLI all weather lifeboat was launched in sea conditions which were very bad with strong northerly winds, a tidal surge and a swell between one and five metres.

Owing to the severe seas, the two lifeboat crew members were also winched into the helicopter and taken with the casualty to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary.

Adrian Don, spokesman for Tynemouth RNLI lifeboat station, said: “This was an unusual situation. It could have been a fatal condition.”

  • You can send your weather photos or any other photos of interest to us by emailing newsdesk@nne.co.uk. Include your name and contact details.