Misery on roads, trains and Metro as 'beast from the east' brings more snow

Chris Hall drove from Roker to North Shields, where he took this picture of the Tyne Tunnel Trading Estate. He described road conditions as 'terrible'.

ROADS

* The A68 between Tow Law and Castleside in County Durham was closedm but one lane is now open and passable with extreme caution.

* The A66 remains closed until further notice.

* The A690 was blocked at Houghton Cut for more than two hours after a heavy goods vehicle jack-knifed shortly before 7.30am.

Eastbound traffic was diverted off at West Rainton onto the A182. The road was closed through this morning's rush hour.

* A183 westbound, hazardous driving conditions were reported this morning between the A19 at Penshaw and Shiney Row, with bus services withdrawn.

* A1 Western Bypass, delays to northbound traffic due to a multi-vehicle collision near Birtley this morning, with tailbacks to the Washington Services.

The road was closed between Chester-le-Street and Washington for a short time while the Highways Agency gritted the carriageway.

Several vehicles were stranded at A1(M) Washington Services due to the poor weather conditions.

* The A1(M) was closed both ways at about 10am due to snow and a broken-down vehicle between J61 A177/A688/B6291 (Bowburn) and J62 A690 (Carrville).

A jack-knifed lorry is causing problems on the A690 at Houghton Cut. Pic: North East Live Traffic Twitter feed.

* Two lorries collided on the A690 just off Gilesgate roundabout heading towards the A1M. This was affecting traffic in Durham City centre and surrounding roads.

* Elsewhere was no better. Chris Hall told us: "Made it from Roker to North Shields, left at 6am, roads terrible - untreated."

BUSES

* Stagecoach withdrew all bus services in the Sunderland and South Tyneside areas due to adverse weather conditions. Some services were restored by late morning.

Coaley Lane, Newbottle, Houghton-le-Spring at 7am today. Pic: Neil Scott.

* Arriva North East services to/from Newcastle are subject to delay and some have been cancelled.

METRO

* Due to frozen points, Metro reported severe delays on the South Shields to Pelaw line, though trains are running.

The operator Tweeted: "We will not be operating the peak services today. Only the core services will be operating, subject to delays."

TRAINS

On the trains, Virgin EastCoast reported that due to a points failure between Durham and Newcastle, the northbound line is disrupted.

A spokesman said: "Train services running through these stations will be running non stop between Durham and Newcastle.

"Northbound services are currently unable to call at Durham, and any passengers for Durham are to alight at Newcastle for the next southbound service.

"Any passengers at Durham are advised to travel south to Darlington for the next service northbound."

Due to failure of the electricity supply earlier today at Newcastle, fewer trains are able to run on all lines.

Services running through Central Station may be cancelled, delayed by up to 45 minutes or revised.

FORECAST

* The Met Office updated its weather warning for the North East to amber for today and tomorrow.

A spokesman said: "Frequent and heavy snow showers are expected on Wednesday and Thursday, leading to some significant accumulations developing.

"Long delays and cancellations on bus, rail and air travel could occur. Roads may become blocked by deep snow, with many stranded vehicles and passengers."

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