Two women were in Fiat that collided with Mini as freezing weather swept across UK

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Two women have died in a crash that blocked one of the main routes over the Pennines in freezing weather conditions.

The women, aged 20 and 22, were in a white Fiat 500 that was in collision with a blue Mini Cooper on the A628 Woodhead Pass, South Yorkshire police said.

The crash happened at 1.30pm on Saturday as Storm Deirdre began to sweep over the high ground between Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire.

Police said a third woman in the Fiat sustained serious injuries, and a man and a woman in the Mini had minor injuries. They were all taken to hospital for treatment.

A force spokesman said: “A number of witnesses stopped at the scene of the collision; however, police are appealing for any further witnesses, particularly those who may have seen the cars prior to the collision or have dashcam footage.”

The Met Office said on Sunday that the worst of the severe weather was now over.

Deirdre, the fourth named storm of the season, brought freezing rain, gales and snow to large parts of the UK on Saturday. In Scotland, where in some parts the snow reached 50cm deep, thousands of homes lost power.

UK weather: Storm Deirdre to ease after high winds and blizzards wreak havoc Read more

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said it had restored power to 15,000 homes in northern Scotland and was working to reconnect 1,900 customers in Aberdeenshire and Perthshire.

Western Power Distribution said it had fixed 15 faults affecting 3,500 customers in south Wales over a 24-hour period, and 17 faults affecting 3,000 customers in the south-west.

Police forces across the country were left dealing with numerous reports of collisions in icy conditions. Devon, Cheshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Merseyside all tweeted to say they had responded to incidents of fallen trees or traffic collisions.

Unsettled conditions are forecast for the coming week.