Chaos on M62 as snow blizzard leaves drivers ‘stranded for seven hours’ overnight

Drivers on the M62 have reported being stranded for several hours early this morning after blizzard conditions forced traffic to a halt.

The stretch of the motorway between West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester was brought to a standstill in the early hours on Friday morning March 10th. Motorists reported being stuck for up to seven hours as heavy snow and blustery winds plunged the motorway into chaos.

The route was temporarily closed because of the severe conditions with problems persisting into this morning’s rush hour. National Highways said there were delays of at least three hours at times on the eastbound side of the trans-Pennine section of the motorway and 90 minutes westbound.

Traffic management system Inrix reported snow ploughs working to clear the motorway. It said: “Long delays and one lane closed due to snow on M62 Westbound from J24 A629 (Ainley Top) to J22 A672 (Rishworth Moor).

“The motorway re-opened at around 3.30am after being shut for over an hour, but one lane remains closed. Further ahead, there are lane closures after J22, and long delays Eastbound approaching J22 as snow ploughs try to clear the carriageway.”

There is also currently 17 miles of congestion between J20 and J24 as National Highways have posted a tweet to update commuters on the latests travelling conditions, with the latest saying: “There are severe delays of at least 3 hours on the #M62 eastbound between J20 #Rochdale and J24 #Huddersfield.

“Severe weather continues to affect the region.”

A Met Office amber snow warning for parts of Greater Manchester and across the Pennines remains in place until 12pm today. A yellow warning for snow also remains in place until 2pm. More light snow is forecast to fall over Manchester at around 9am, before conditions settle later this afternoon.

A statement issued by National Highways earlier this morning said: “National Highways is advising drivers that lane closures remain in place on the M62 in Greater Manchester while work continues to treat the carriageway with gritters and ploughs.

“Heavy snowfall caused hours of delays between junctions 21 (Milnrow) and 22 (Denshaw) in the early hours of the morning and lane closures were put in place in both directions.”