Heavy snow hit North Yorkshire today as winter tightened its grip on the county.

Winter arrives: Pedestrians, motorists and a hardy lollipop man battle against the blizzard conditions today on Huntington Road

Motorists were being urged to take extreme care and reduce their speed in the difficult conditions -- and there were warnings of freezing fog and drifting snow to come.

A police spokesman said the early morning shower of around three inches of snow had caused around half a dozen minor accidents, but there had not been any injuries.

He added that the Dales and the North York Moors had been the hardest hit, and warned that some routes, including the Pateley Bridge to Grassington, road were only passable in four wheel drive vehicles.

The A1079 near Barmby Moor was also congested along with the A64 at Whitwell-on-the-Hill. Officers at Humberside Police were also advising motorists to avoid Garrowby Hill, near Market Weighton, and instead follow diversions.

There were around 48 accidents yesterday - a figure above average due to the icy conditions -on North Yorkshire's roads.

A tank driver had a lucky escape when his vehicle skidded on black ice and turned on its side into a ditch.

The driver of the Rix Petroleum tank was travelling through the village of Warter, near Pocklington, when the incident happened. The driver was helped out of his vehicle before emergency services arrived. Four fire appliances from Pocklington later helped to moved the tank.

Black ice also caused a car to spin out of control and end up on its roof in York last night. A spokeswoman for York police said no-one had been hurt in the accident which happened at around 9pm when the car crossed the central reservation of the A64 and ended up on its roof.

A police spokesman said the number of accidents in the region was slightly up on usual due to the icy spell.

"There have been a noticeable number of extra accidents - quite a few of them minor shunts due to black ice and vehicles slipping off the road."

The City of York Council's gritters worked through the night and the city's pavements were also salted, along with car parks, railway stations and shopping centres in Acomb and Haxby.

The council's mobile library was out of action today after its heater broke.

Meanwhile, weather experts said today's snow showers would eventually turn to sleet. Towards the end of the week the temperature would rise and there would be rain right up until the weekend.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.