Snow, sleet and ice has brought traffic chaos to the M62 and major routes around Huddersfield.

Motorists faced lengthy delays on the teatime commute home after snow and sleet falling during the course of the day made driving conditions treacherous.

The Highways Agency reported lengthy delays on the M62 over the Pennines. At one-stage Highways Agency officials were reporting three-hour delays on the motorway between Leeds and Rishworth Moor. Drivers were urged to avoid the motorway if possible and proceed with caution.

A spokesman said traffic began moving by early evening, although drivers still faced two-hour delays. He said: “We have had vehicles become stranded which has caused tailbacks. Those have been moved and it is now just a case of getting the traffic travelling through.”

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Several roads were blocked, including the Woodhead Pass where there were a number of minor crashes.

There was gridlock on many main routes, including Wakefield Road where traffic was tailing back for more than four miles from Flockton to Waterloo.

Bradford Road was also log-jammed with drivers taking more than an hour to travel the two miles from Bradley roundabout to the Huddersfield ring road.

Emergency services were called out to a number of incidents. A pensioner walked away shaken but unhurt after a horror crash at Greenfield Road, Holmfirth. Witnesses told how the car spun out of control before overturning and landing on its roof.

Cars stuck on Wakefield Road near Lepton due to snow and ice

Earlier, a driver was taken to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary after his Rover 25 ran into a roadside skip at Penistone Road, Fenay Bridge. The driver was able to walk with paramedics to the ambulance.

Two lanes are closed on the M62 during the afternoon following an accident on the westbound carriageway between junctions 26 at Chain Bar and 25 at Brighouse.

And Huddersfield firefighters were called out to a two-car collision in Birkby. A Mercedes A 190 and a Volvo S40 collided at the junction of Spaines Road and Halifax Old Road. There were no injuries in the incident, which happened at 5.45pm.

The Met Office had issued a three-day yellow alert for snow and ice in the Huddersfield area on Tuesday lunchtime.