HEAVY snow brought the North-East to a standstill, with thousands of motorists stuck in gridlock on most of the region’s major roads.

Snow, which blew in last night but is still falling in parts of County Durham and North Yorkshire, has caused havoc on the roads, with delays and congestion affecting the A19, the A1M, the A66 and the A1.

Highways authorities across the North had gritting lorries out overnight but problems were compounded by the snow falling on already frozen ground.

In places drift of three feet deep have been reported and council gritters are struggling to keep minor roads open.

On the A19, affected areas include between Thirsk and the junction with the A172 northbound; between the unction with A684 and York southbound; and between Wingate and Middlesbrough southbound.

Traffic congestion on the A1M include the area between Scotch Corner and where the road meets the A1 northbound. There are also narrow lanes Newton Aycliffe and Darlington North (junction with A68) in both directions.

On the A1, traffic has slowed between the junction with the A66M and the junction with B6267 southbound.

Traffic on the A66 is slow around Darlington between the junction with A167 and the junction with A67 eastbound.

There is also traffic congestion on the A66 between Scotch Corner and Barnard Castle’s junction with the B6277 westbound.

The A66 also has lanes closed at Middlesborough’s junction with A1032 in both directions.

On the A167, there is congestion between the junction with the B6288 and the junction with A689 southbound.

Traffic is also slow on the area between the A167’s junction with the B6312 and the junction with A177 southbound.

Lanes are also closed around Chester-le-Street between the junction with the B6313 the junction with B1284 in both directions.

The A689 is blocked by broken down vehicles near Bishop Auckland at the junction with the A688 westbound. ROUTES into Teesside were heavily disrupted. Cleveland Police closed the A171 Moors Road at Birk Brow above Guisborough at about 8.30am after traffic was reduced to a dangerous crawl. Snowploughs and gritters worked overtime to keep the route open but they were overwhelmed by the conditions. The road was fully reopened after the rush hour traffic died down. The section between Whitby and Scaling Dam was particularly hard hit with drifts and high-side winds in the exposed spots. The A66 across Teesside was not particularly disrupted by the adverse weather conditions and drivers on the A19 suffered few problems.