9:06am Thursday 24th December 2009
By Will Kilner
Fresh snow across the district caused hazardous conditions on the roads this morning.
Commuters faced heavy snow as they travelled into Bradford, with roads quickly covering.
The freezing conditions have led to delays and cancellations to bus services in Bradford and the Aire Valley.
And there have already been a number of road traffic accidents, including a car skidding off the road in the Bingley area and a two-vehicle collision near Chain Bar roundabout, Cleckheaton.
Khadim Hussain, from the First bus company in Bradford, said: "We are doing our level best and the bus drivers are doing a tremendous job in really severe conditions.
"The only drawback is that we are just sticking to the main roads. Traffic is building up on all roads because the weather is getting really bad. We will keep services going as long as we can."
Police in Bradford said the main roads were passable with care but added that the side roads were in a bad state.
Officers are still attending all emergency and priority incidents, but warned that they may take a little longer to get to them than normal.
Police coned off a motorway slip road after a collision between a car and a lorry at about 6.15am.
The car ended up on an embankment after going through a crash barrier on the entry slip road to the westbound M62 at junction 26, Chain Bar.
Police coned off the road for more than an hour. Nobody was injured in the incident, although police said the car driver was "understandably shocked" by what had happened.
The motorway is open but motorists are advised to take extreme car.
Leeds Bradford International Airport was closed for an hour and a half this morning but reopened at 7am.
An airport spokesman said: "We are advising people to check in as normal but to expect slight delays.
"To give people an idea of the situation, yesterday we had about 12 delays but only about an hour and a half. We were really pleased with that because a lot of the other airports were closed."
Meanwhile, anyone travelling from Bradford towards Huddersfield is advised that conditions in the Huddersfield area are particularly bad. There are no bus services from Huddersfield to Manchester and most services are sticking to main roads and avoiding untreated minor roads.
People hoping to do a spot of last-minute Christmas shopping are being warned that the 711 bus service from Bradford to the White Rose Centre has been cancelled until further notices.
In the Keighley area, services 704/5, 710 and 715/6 are also cancelled.
First buses in Bradford are only serving major routes.
On the railways, a broken-down train at Guiseley resulted in delays between Ilkley, Leeds and Bradford Forster Square.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk