Thursday, 9 February 2012

Amber weather warning in place for ice across much of Cumbria

Since approximately 5 am this morning (9 February 2012) there have been 97 reported traffic collisions. No one has been seriously injured but police are continuing to warn people to take extreme care when driving on the County's roads.

The following is a snapshot of the incidents which have occurred across the county:
At 04:56 am a lorry jack-knifed near to the Stainmore Cafe, Kirby Stephen, the driver was not injured and the road was cleared at 06:14 am.
At 06:48 am at Haile, Egremont a Seat Altea driven by a female from Egremont and a Ford Focus driven by a male from Whitehaven were involved in a collision due to the icy conditions, no one was injured.
At 07:05 am on the A684 Kendal, multiply cars skidded off the road.
At 08:05 am on the A66 Eastbound Penrith near to the Newbiggin Junction there have been multiple cars involved in a collision. No one has been seriously injured, but police officers have closed the road at Darce Road and at the start of the duel carriageway at Kirkby Thore while they deal with the incidents. No further details are available at this time.

All of the County's roads has been affected by icy and the police are warning people to take care on every road. If your journey is not essential, then please do not drive. If you do have to travel, please take extreme care when driving, slow down and keep a substantial breaking distance from the car in front.

The A66 from Stainmore remains closed, the M6 between junction 36 and 38 is only passable with care and a 20 MPH speed limit has been issued, the A590 is passable extreme care, but there have been wagon's which have jack-knifed at Lindale Hill, which is blocking traffic.

The Met Office have an Amber weather warning in place for ice across much of Cumbria. Throughout the course of today areas of rain and drizzle will edge further south to affect the whole region. Just about anywhere is at risk of icy conditions, especially in more rural areas.

Local residents are asked to take care when walking on pavements, as these are just as susceptible to freezing.

To keep up to date with the latest weather forecasts, visit the Met Office website: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/

Tune in to your local BBC Radio station to keep up to date with road and school closures and other community issues: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/stations/cumbria
You can also contact the Cumbria Highways Hotline on 0845 609 6609.

For  latest traffic updates please visit http://www.cumbria.police.uk/traffic-link-map

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