Snow returns – bringing chaos for motorists

?Drivers endured nightmare journeys today as snow returned to the West Midlands, bringing chaos to roads and catching out council gritting teams.

Snow started falling in the region at 7am, causing traffic jams on roads that had not been gritted for several hours.

Journeys that would normally take 10 minutes were today taking more than an hour after up to two inches of snow fell, turning many routes into ice rinks.

Wolverhampton City Council sent gritting teams out at 7 last night, but did not return to roads this morning.

Kitchen fitter Jonathan Stevens, aged 29, took more than an hour to get from his home in Vicarage Road, Penn, to Wolverhampton city centre today.

"It would normally take 10 minutes to get into Wolverhampton but it took more than an hour," he said. "The roads were absolutely chaotic. Cars were sliding all over the place."

Office manager Craig Willetts, aged 40, faced a nightmare journey to Wolverhampton along Birmingham New Road from his home in Coseley.

He said: "The traffic was crawling all the way and it was absolutely solid at Castlegate and Burnt Tree islands. The conditions were absolutely treacherous — there was no sign the roads had been salted."

Accidents included a two-car crash on Pye Green Road at the crossroads with Broadhurst Green Road, in Cannock, at 8.20am.

Forecasters said the snow would thaw and be washed away by rain tonight.

• Read Peter Carroll's guide to driving in bad weather conditions