Motorists faced York's first real taste of winter today - and won praise from emergency workers for the responsible way they tackled it.

LEFT: May Nichols, aged 87, of Stockton Lane, York, clears the snow from the front of her drive

Harsh weather swept across the county as drivers started their journeys to work - but well-prepared motorists meant only minor accidents.

Some delays were caused by the weather conditions but all roads were passable, some with care.

By this afternoon much of the snow had melted as temperatures rose.

Police spokesman Tony Lidgate said good forecasts allowed planning to avoid chaos that the weather would have caused in the past.

He said: "If we had this fall of snow 20 years ago far fewer people would have known it was coming and they would not have made appropriate provisions for it.

"The lack of serious accidents today is a tribute to the improvements made in forecasting."

North Yorkshire County Council's highways maintenance manager, Alan Burns, said the snowfall had been expected well in advance.

The authority's fleet of about 70 gritters had been sent out, along with 20 vehicles belonging to farmers and hired by the council.

Problems occurred only on steep gradients. A City of York Council spokesman said: "Our gritters were out at 4am. We have 24-hour weather monitoring and had advance warning this was coming, which allowed us to plan to avoid any major problems."

A man was taken to hospital with arm and shoulder injuries after a van and a car collided on the Malton to Swinton road at 7.15am and a heavy goods vehicle broke down on the A64 at Whitwell on the Hill, causing serious delays.

But police reported that most accidents were minor bumps and could not be attributed to the snow.

The force released a warning about water covering roads as the snow began to melt.

Train companies said minor problems were caused to services after snow affected points to the north of York at about 6am.

But it was sorted quickly, with delays of no longer than 25 minutes, and no other problems were experienced, spokesmen for GNER and Northern Spirit confirmed.

Forecasters said temperatures were now rising, bringing to an end the icy weather of the last few days. A PA WeatherCentre spokeswoman said: "Conditions will remain cold, but will not be as bad as in the last few days."The worst is over for the moment."

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