HEAVY overnight snow has caused severe travel problems and left scores of schools across the region closed.

More than 140 schools in North Yorkshire are closed, while a section of the A66 between County Durham and Cumbria has been shut.

Flights from Leeds Bradford and Durham Tees Valley airports have been suspended, while a numbers of flights from Newcastle have been delayed.

Elsewhere, a train hit a car on a level crossing, British Transport Police (BTP) said.

A spokeswoman said no-one was injured in the incident near Selby, North Yorkshire, as the driver had got out of the vehicle before the impact.

She said BTP received a call at 8.18am saying a car had been struck by a train on an automatic half-barrier level crossing at Hagg Lane, South Duffield.

The train involved was the 0733 Hull to Manchester Piccadilly First Transpennine service.

The spokeswoman said: "Trains are halted in the area whilst emergency services attend.

"This was a very slow speed collision and there are no injuries reported.

"The train driver had seen the obstruction on the crossing and applied the emergency brake and the car driver had exited the vehicle before it was struck."

Further heavy snow falls have been predicted for the rest of the week.