SNOW, ice and strong winds continued to cause disruption across the region today (Friday, March 2) - but the end of the big freeze is in sight.

The 'Beast from the East' forced more school closures, while hitting roads and rail and council services.

However, the Met Office said temperatures would start to recover from Sunday.

In North Yorkshire, more than 100 schools were closed today. Easingwold School, Barlby High, near Selby, and Helmsley Community Primary were among those to shut. A dozen schools closed across the East Riding.

The weather and road conditions in York had improved significantly by yesterday morning, which meant nearly all schools in the city could open again after many of them closed on Thursday due to the snow.

The city council confirmed that between February 17 and March 2, its gritters went on 40 runs on roads around the city - each costing around £5,700 - making a total of 94 road routes covered this winter.

Gritters were out today and will be out again from 4am on Saturday, while waste and recycling teams were aiming to collect missed collections.

Snow wardens were also at work again including Woodthorpe man Phil McBride, who is one of 211 volunteers signed up around the city.

He said: “I’ve been clearing the paths around Woodthorpe focusing on those residents who can’t get around so easily.”

York College decided on Thursday that it would close on Friday, while Our Lady Queen of Martyrs RC Primary was also shut due to heating failure.

The school confirmed that it will open as normal on Monday.

The wintry weather led to the closure of some roads in North Yorkshire, including Seamer Moor Lane in Scarborough, Blakey Ridge road from Castleton to Hutton-le-Hole and the B6161 between Leathley and Beckwithshaw, near Harrogate.

Trains were also affected in the region with a reduced service on the TransPennine Express route between York and Scarborough and York and Middlesbrough, while Virgin Trains East Coast ran only one train in either direction every two hours, between York and London King’s Cross.

A Virgin Trains spokesperson said: “On our east coast route, due to extreme weather conditions we are advising customers not to travel today [Friday].

“We are unable to run any services north of Newcastle.”

Hambleton District Council announced that waste and recycling collections in the area continued to be affected by weather conditions yesterday.

Staff were instructed to only access areas where it was considered safe.

The council said it was unlikely that many scheduled collections would take place.

The forecast for the region on Saturday is cloudy with occasional snow showers still likely, but these will probably fade later on with drier conditions developing, the Met Office said.

It added that it will remain cold with a maximum temperature of 2C.

The Met Office said temperatures are likely to recover slowly between Sunday and Tuesday and that bands of rain or showers are likely to move northwards, interspersed with drier, brighter periods.

It also said snow is still possible over hills and that overnight frosts are likely.