Motorway hell: Heavy snow leaves drivers stuck on M6 for 10 hours. And now ... - Mirror.co.uk

Drivers yesterday told how they were stuck for up to 10 hours as snow brought one of Britain's busiest ­motorways to a grinding halt.

Mountain rescue teams and police were called in to help as a foot of snow fell in just over an hour, causing chaos on both ­directions of the M6 in Lancashire.

One diabetic man was taken to hospital after falling ill at the wheel and an ambulance ­carrying a female patient had to be dug out of the snow.

Student Rebecca Roberts was stuck on the M6 for more than ten hours. Rebecca, 19, left Burnley, Lancs, at 7pm on Friday for the one-hour journey to Skelmersdale for her step-grandfather's 90th birthday party.

But soon after hitting the motorway she found herself stuck in a gridlock. She finally made it to Skelmersdale at 5.30am.

Rebecca said: "When we got on the M6 it seemed fine but the next minute all the cars were stuck. The roads were so bad it was scary."

Rebecca, from the Wirral, said other drivers found inventive ways to pass the time. She added: "This couple were walking their dog along the motorway and someone built a snowman in the middle of the road.

"I was playing games, speaking to people, trying to keep warm."

Radio producer Ross Beresford, 29, was stranded for eight hours after attempting a 30-minute trip for a friend's 30th birthday.

Ross and fiancee Kirsty Watson, 27, left their home in Leyland, Lancs, at 7.30pm and headed south down the M6 for Wigan.

But when they reached a stretch between junctions 27 and 26 half an hour later, traffic was at a standstill. Ross said: "After a couple of miles it was slippery and some cars had spun into the hard shoulder. Five cars had collided in the fast lane."

After a few hours, the couple decided to turn around at the next junction but found themselves stranded again and could not get home until 4am.

Ross added: "There was no traction on the road. There was so much snow and ice a lot of people abandoned their cars."

Police yesterday urged drivers to move their cars after more than 30 were left behind on a one-mile stretch of the A56 between Rising Bridge and ­Edenfield, Lancs.

In Barnsley, South Yorks, a family had to flee after part of their house collapsed under the weight of snow early yesterday.

A police spokeswoman said the damage was to a first-floor extension. She added: "All the people in the property were accounted for."

Firefighters called gas and electricity services out as a precaution and a building engineer was also called to the scene. A relative of woman who lives in the house said: "She said it was like an earthquake.

"It's a really shocking experience. You wouldn't think that snow would do this."

The snow brought fun for some, including Prime Minister David Cameron, seen with a sledge in Chipping Norton, Oxon.

But forecasters say milder temperatures will lead to a rapid thaw, with heavy rain expected to bring the risk of flooding.

Flash flooding has already hit parts of south-west Wales, ­including the village of Llanddowror, in Carmarthenshire.

Emergency services said they had nearly 300 calls.

Temperatures are today ­expected to rise to up to 10C in the South with wet and windy weather to follow.

Helen Waite, forecaster for the Met Office, said: "In the West of England and south-west Wales we have already seen a thaw and as a result of the heavy rain combined with the thaw, there has been some flooding issues around there already.

"As this warm air comes across, along with rain which will be heavy in places combined with thawing snow, it may well lead to localised flooding."