Emergency response units of the Spanish army say they have been deployed to rescue drivers trapped in their cars by heavy snows falling across large parts of Spain.

Spanish media outlets report that hundreds of cars were stuck as snowfall in the north and central areas of the country disrupts travel on a holiday weekend, when families are returning from Epiphany celebrations on Friday and Saturday.

Over 150 soldiers supported by snowplows from the army's emergency response units worked overnight to free an unknown number of vehicles on a highway northwest of Madrid Sunday.

Emergency services for the region of Castilla and Leon say that 80 people were taken in at a temporary shelter in the nearby town of San Rafael.