Drivers across the region are being warned to travel only if necessary as police begin to close some high level routes due to heavy snow.

North Yorkshire Police closed the B6265 Pateley Bridge to Grassington road in the Yorkshire Dales, and the A170 Sutton Bank road, near Thirsk, after conditions became treacherous.

Officers also closed the westbound carriageway of the A66 cross Pennine route, about two miles from Scotch Corner, again due to snow.

Roads in Darlington came to a standstill during rush hour as motorists were extra cautious in the bad weather.

Traffic on the ring road reached gridlock as cars sat bumper to bumper on all major routes out of the town including North Road and Woodland Road.

Three cars were involved in an accident on the A66 bypass, near Morton Park, at around 4.17pm. Emergency services attended the scene and fire brigade personnel from Darlington helped make the vehicles safe.

Three people were taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital by ambulance suffering minor injuries.

A spokesman for Darlington police said the standstill of traffic owed itself to rush hour traffic driving very slowly in the winter weather.

Traffic was nose to tail on the A692 between Consett and Gateshead, particularly heading westbound, and was bad at Sunniside.

There was also a gridlock in the centre of Consett for a time and the A181 was closed westbound at the junction with Wingate Lane, Wheatley Hill, County Durham.

The B6296 Lanchester to Tow Law road was described as virtually impassable because of the snow.

A police spokesman said: ''There have been a number of minor accidents across the county. Nothing serious thankfully at the moments. ''The message very much this evening is that if you don't have to travel, please don't.''

Paul Knightley, senior meteorologist at the PA Weathercentre, said the whole of northern England was experiencing rain and sleet with this turning to snow at higher levels.

This was spreading north into southern and central Scotland.

Mr Knightley said: ''Many people may wake up tomorrow morning to a covering of snow, especially on higher ground.'' The weather was expected to turn mild by tomorrow afternoon.