Snake Pass between Glossop and Sheffield closed for fifth time this winter

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Snow and extreme hail “the size of mint imperials” have closed roads across the Peak District and Pennines, with accidents causing difficulties for rescue teams.

Four roads were closed in the High Peak – Holme Moss, Cat and Fiddle, A53 Axe Edge and A57 Snake Pass – and gritters worked overnight on Sunday to reopen them by Monday lunchtime.

It was the fifth time this winter that the Snake Pass, which rises to nearly 1,700ft at its exposed summit between Glossop and Sheffield, had been closed by Derbyshire county council due to hazardous conditions.

In Greater Manchester on Sunday night, a series of hailstorms carpeted roads with ice balls “the size of mint imperials”.

Across the north-west of England, people marvelled at the erratic weather as it lurched from one extreme to another. The rainiest place in the region was also the sunniest: 14.2mm of rain fell in Rostherne in Cheshire over 24 hours, but the town also had 3.2 hours of sunshine.

Earlier in the day there was a pile-up on the Kirkstone Pass in the Lake District after a heavy snow shower. Patterdale mountain rescue helped 33 members of the public who were caught up in the incident, which included a head-on collision and a stuck coach. The Great North air ambulance tended to the most seriously injured casualty.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Snowy conditions in Blairingone, Fife, on Sunday. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA

The mountain rescue team thanked Cumbria police for supervising the road closure – “in particular the two officers on scene and the unlucky one who was still having to tell drivers the road was closed despite the signs. There was no way anyone was getting down as the two cars were head-on and blocking the road.”

The windiest place in the UK on Sunday was the Isle of Portland in Dorset, where 70mph gusts were recorded at 7am, the Met Office said.

A powerful jet stream brought areas of low pressure across the Atlantic Ocean, resulting in an unsettled and windy period with ice and snow.

The Met Office predicts an overcast and windy night on Monday with thick cloud and widespread rain. This will be heavy at times and become increasingly wintry across higher parts of Scotland.

There are yellow warnings in place for high winds in Northern Ireland on Tuesday, spreading to England on Wednesday.