A National Express coach can be seen slipping down an icy road with people desperately trying to stop it.
The UK has been hit by an Arctic blast this week which has caused chaos on the country’s roads with snow and ice. The Met Office put in place a yellow warning for ice for much of southern England, the Midlands and eastern Wales from 5pm on Tuesday to 10am on Wednesday.
Several other warnings for snow and ice have been in force across the UK, with the Met Office advising vehicles could be stranded, power cuts may occur and rural areas could be cut off.
And in Nottingham, a National Express coach was seen slipping backwards down a busy road before a large crowd got behind it and managed to bring it to a halt before any damage was caused.
The National Express coach going on the 450 route is believed to have been heading from London to Mansfield when it got into difficulty in the wintry conditions. So far there have not been any reports of injuries.
Snow and ice could be seen on the ground as the large coach gradually moved down the hill and first a few then more people could be seen helping out to stop the vehicle. Thousands of train passengers also suffered disruption on Tuesday morning and a Stagecoach bus in Aberdeenshire toppled onto its side with a passenger on board in icy conditions.
The Met Office has warned of snow showers continuing this morning which may be heavy at times and accompanied by lightning in some areas. Some lying snow could reach up to 10cm or more over higher ground and ice is expected to form on untreated surfaces again today. Southern Rail said overrunning engineering works at South Croydon will affect early morning trains between East Croydon and Uckfield/East Grinstead.
Met Office spokesman Stephen Dixon said: “We’ve had a fairly mild November so far. So it’ll feel like that first taste of winter for many with that snow and ice risk layered on top.” He added: “The highest accumulations are likely over the mountains in Scotland, where over higher ground you could see around 20cm of snow through this week accumulating on the ground.
“They are not necessarily the most disruptive snowfalls, but it only takes a couple of centimetres on lower ground to cause some level of travel disruption.”
Tuesday saw widespread disruption across the UK, with more than 200 school closures reported by the afternoon. Snowfall was also widely reported, with 12cm of lying snow recorded at Watnall, Nottinghamshire, as an Arctic airmass influenced the UK’s weather. The Met Office said the coldest temperature was recorded at Braemar village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, with the mercury falling to minus 11.2C.