MANY parts of the North-East and North Yorkshire awoke to a white Christmas after overnight falls on Christmas Eve.

Nationally, the heaviest snowfalls were in Northern Ireland, Scotland, north Wales and parts of north-west England.

Most parts of the North-East received a light dusting but in North Yorkshire police said several centimetres had fallen in some areas.

But police said drivers had heeded warnings to take care and, apart from a few minor bumps, there were no major casulaties.

In North Yorkshire, the County Council's gritter fleet was in action offering 24-hour cover across one of the most rural counties in England.

This year, a further ten Schmidt gritters and ploughs have been bought. This brings the number of winter maintenance vehicles to almost 100, and Highways North Yorkshire has access to more than 130 drivers to crew them.

In addition, the county council can call on about 150 farming contractors who help with snow ploughing in heavy snow conditions.

The first white Christmas since 2001 means bookies are now preparing themselves for the possibility of record payouts.

Graham Sharpe, of William Hill, said: ''I don't think we've seen widespread snowfall since before the millennium, so we mustn't be too Scrooge-like."

Mr Sharpe said his firm's total payout could be close to £500,000.

Ladbrokes spokesman Warren Lush also said bookmakers had closed the book on a white Christmas.

The cold snap isn't expected to last long. According to the Met Office, temperatures in the North-East are expected to rise today and by Wednesday they should be well above average for the time of the year.