DEVASTATING weather conditions put a damper on New Year celebrations across the region last night.

An Arctic blast, with high winds and temperatures plummeting as low as -12C, led to parties being cancelled, roads being closed and communities without power.

While the North-East and North Yorkshire saw in the New Year dawn with an icy growl, the capital saw out 2000 with a spectacular send off at the Millennium Dome.

The Millennium celebrations planned for Middlesbrough town centre, including the lighting of a beacon, were cancelled as winds approached gale force, while at Newcastle's Haymarket, dance bands played in a blinding snowstorm to a handful of the hardiest partygoers.

As heavy snowfalls drifted in the winds, the A66 cross-Pennine route was closed at 4pm by Durham Police - but opened again four hours later.

Driver Mark Pearson said: "It came in very quickly and suddenly it was a total white-out.

"I couldn't see two yards in front of me and was forced to pull over.

"There were about half a dozen cars stuck in a snow drift. We couldn't move."

A family had a New Year's Eve escape when a chimney stack crashed down in high winds into their garden.

The near-miss happened in Northallerton Road, Brompton, North Yorkshire, at about 7.10pm. Twenty minutes later, branches brought power lines down on The Green, cutting power to parts of Brompton.

The village of Gainford, near Darlington, suffered a total blackout when power lines were brought down at about 6pm.

Darlington FC's match against Rochdale, Hartlepool's game against Lincoln, and York City's game against Chesterfield, all due to be played today, have been called off because of frozen pitches.

A Newcastle man in his 60s was airlifted to hospital in a Sea King helicopter after breaking his ankle in a fall on the rocks at Robin Hood's Bay, in North Yorkshire. Weather conditions made a land-based rescue too difficult for the emergency services.

Simon Williams, Newcastle Met Office forecaster, said: "The band of weather has been blown in from the west and moved its way across the North-East, reaching the region during early afternoon.

"The blizzards will continue to be very strong throughout the night and the temperatures will be down to around -12 because of the wind chill factor. I don't think anywhere will escape the weather."

The winter white-out brought new fears of flooding as forecasters predicted that much of the overnight snow would begin thawing today.

A spokeswoman for the Environment Agency said: "We haven't put any official flood warnings out yet, and we don't want people to panic too much, but once the snow thaws and runs down to rivers, there is the chance we may see some flooding.

"However, it is far too early to predict how much extra water the snow will create, and whether the rivers will be able to take it.

"Luckily the river levels have dropped slightly in the past week."

People living in flood-prone areas can call the Environment Agency's on 0845-988 1188.

New Year's Eve events from Brighton to Scotland were cancelled or cut back as the storm made conditions too dangerous for spectators