THE latest blast of wintry weather brought chaos to roads and other transport networks round the North-East this morning.
Further overnight snowfalls led to major rush hour problems despite the best efforts of ploughs and gritter crews.
Hundreds of schools across the region were closed today due to problems faced by staff and pupils just reaching the premises, particularly those in rural areas, while several were suffering knock-on pipe bursts and heating failures due to the extreme cold temperatures.
Motorists were confronted with treacherous conditions on many roads, with a series of overnight problems, featuring a number of jack-knifed lorries and a fatal accident on the A1 in North Yorkshire, prior to the build-up of traffic this morning.
A woman in her early 40s was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, near Marne Barracks, at Catterick Garrison, at 2.30am.
It led to the closure of a section of the A1 between Catterick and Leeming Bar, both northbound and southbound, while the fatality was tackled by emergency services.
Elsewhere on the A1 and A1(M) it was slow going as many sections were restricted to single lane traffic.
One lane was closed between junctions 56 and 57 on the stretch south of Burtree, near Darlington, after another accident.
A jack-knifed lorry near junction 62, at Carrville, caused a lane closure affecting northbound traffic which was congested back to Bowburn.
Further north, the A1 was closed completely near Berwick, with police in the Scottish Borders advising motorists not to travel unless it was for, "a matter of life or death".
Continuing hazardous conditions saw the snow gates remain closed on the A66, near Bowes, on the Durham-Cumbria boundary, while the flow was down to single lane traffic, at little more than snail's pace on the alternative trans-Pennine route, the A69, from Tyneside to Carlisle.
Although Durham Tees Valley Airport finally managed to open last night, no early flights were able to depart due to snow-covered runways.
Similar problems beset Newcastle Airport, with flights suspended this morning while snow was cleared from the runway.
Revised train timetables were in operation on the rail network across the region, with passengers advised to ring National Rail Inquiries, on (08453) 017641.
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