Thaw starts but drivers still warned

Snow was today melting on the West Midlands' roads – as weather experts warned that up to 2in more could fall tonight.

Below-freezing temperatures have caused a nightmare for motorists for more than a week, leading to hours of delays for drivers limited to crawling speed.

And there have been more accidents in the region in the past 24 hours.

Dozens of people were on a bus when it was struck by a pick-up truck while it waited at a bus stop in a busy Halesowen road yesterday. Around 50 passengers were taken off the 241 National Express West Midlands bus in Kent Road after it was struck when it stopped at a bus stop near a roundabout opposite The Stag and Three Horseshoes pub.

Meanwhile, a woman in her 20s is fighting for her life after the car she was in hit a tree on the Birmingham-Worcestershire border. The accident happened at 9.10pm on the A38 between Longbridge and Bromsgrove at Catshill.

West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman Murray MacGregor said: "Ambulance crews worked with firefighters to cut the woman free from the wreckage of the car. The vehicle had very significant damage to its passenger side.

"She is believed to come from the Worcester area. She had a serious head injury and was unconscious.

"This was an extremely difficult rescue. The fact that it was accomplished so quickly was down to the skill and teamwork between fire and ambulance crews." The majority of schools across the region were today open as normal but education chiefs said 12 schools in Birmingham were closed or partially closed.

Albert Bradbeer Primary School in Longbridge will remain shut both today and tomorrow as it has run out of grit for the school grounds. Braidwood School for the Deaf in Hodge Hill was closed today due to the snow and ice, as was Brays Special School in Sheldon, Cofton School in West Heath and Cockshut Hill School in Yardley.

Perryfields High, in Oldbury, was today closed to pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 but was remaining open for youngsters in Years 10, 11, 12 & 13. The Dormston, in Sedgley, was open to Years 7 to 9 only.

A special train ride organised by broadcaster Les Ross and pop mogul Pete Waterman has been cancelled.

The current bad weather has been blamed for the decision to postpone the trip to London, originally planned for this Saturday.

The duo were to host the charity fundraising train ride from Stafford, Wolverhampton and Birmingham to London.

lReports of obstacles in the road holding up traffic have snowballed as a result of the cold snap. The problem is snow joke for workers at Dudley Council who have been inundated with requests from police to shift giant snowballs left in the middle of major routes in the borough.