DRIVERS were last night warned not to venture out in parts of the region with further heavy snow predicted to be on its way.

The Met Office issued a severe weather alert for Eastern coastal areas and said that icy blasts, which brought overnight snow in North Yorkshire, could last for the rest of the week.

Yesterday, the A64 Scarborough to York road and the A171 coastal road, between Scarborough and Whitby, appeared to be worst affected by sporadic snowfalls and freezing weather, which caused dangerous driving conditions.

The A170 Scarborough to Thirsk road was closed at Sutton Bank following reports of an accident involving a gritter lorry. Several minor roads were also closed for a period.

Firefighters from Lythe and Whitby dealt with a handful of accidents on the A174 involving cars that had slid off the road.

Last night, a spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: "The forecast is bad, temperatures are dropping and we are warning people not to travel tonight unless they really have to.

"It's a case of batten down the hatches and see what the morning brings."

North Yorkshire County Council reported several school closures, largely because of safety concerns about dangerous roads.

Egton C of E Primary School and Goathland Primary School, both near Whitby, along with Hackness C of E Primary School, near Scarborough, and Langcliffe Primary School, near Settle, were among those closed for the day.

Year eight and nine pupils at Malton High School were also told to stay at home after classroom heating broke down.

Over-zealous gritters forced the temporary closure of a railway crossing on the A165 road in Filey.

Salt from deposited grit, which was said to have jammed points on the track, had to be cleared by engineers.

A Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council cabinet meeting, in South Bank, near Middlesbrough, was also postponed because of fears over the weather.

Meanwhile, a 45-year old woman from Darlington suffered fractures to her pelvis, ribs and collarbone after she lost control of her Mazda MX5 car on a bend and collided with a Chrysler Crossfire travelling in the opposite direction.

Police blamed the early morning accident, about a mile east of the Denton crossroads on the B6279, near Darlington, on slippery, icy conditions, along with a diesel oil spill on the road.

The woman was taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital where her injuries were described as non-life threatening. A 35-year-old man from Lanchester, who was driving the Chrysler, suffered whiplash and bruising.

The road was closed for four and-a-half hours while the scene was cleared.