Gridlock in snow havoc

Heavy snowfall wreaked havoc across the Midlands as treacherous conditions brought roads to a standstill.

See also: All the amazing snow pictures

Commuters spent most of last night battling to get home and many were today asking what had happened to the gritters.

Many motorists gave up their journeys altogether, abandoning their vehicles to walk home or stay in hotels overnight.

Transport bosses today said the sheer volume of rush-hour traffic combined with the heavy blizzards was the reason for the long delays and denied that any more could have been done to help motorists.

One of the worst-hit areas was Wolverhampton's ring road, with many motorists facing delays of up to two hours just to get out of the city centre.City transport boss, Councillor Peter Bilson said: "We could have done no more to ensure the safety of the roads, with our gritters covering miles and miles of Wolverhampton.

"The root cause of the problem was the sheer volume of traffic that built up during rush hour."

Birmingham city centre was also brought to a virtual standstill.

In Sandwell, Geoff Hulson, the borough's roads engineer, said gritting lorries had been out non-stop for 36 hours.

But he admitted the sudden heavy snow had meant that the gritting lorries had been caught up in the jams.

Keith Stone, of Walsall Council, said more than 740 tonnes of grit had been used on roads across the town.

Fifteen miles of traffic tailed back along the M5, between Junction 4 and the M6 link. For a short time Birmingham Airport was closed.

The wintry weather has also forced parks chiefs across the region to scrap all football matches this weekend.

Trams in Wolverhampton also became trapped and were forced to terminate at Priestfields last night, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded for hours.

Bus routes off main roads also had to be pulled with many passengers walking home from bus shelters after services grinded to a halt.

Some buses had to be recovered during the night in Sandwell and Dudley.

Phil Batemen, from Travel West Midlands, said a full service should be in place across the West Midlands.

Tram services will be operating slightly less frequent services and rail services were cancelled today between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury.

By Steve Wright