Further weather warnings as snow falls across Black Country and Staffordshire
Fresh weather warnings have been issued after the first heavy snowfall of the winter covered much of the Black Country and Staffordshire in white.
Parts of the region have had more than two inches (5cm) of snow after Storm Bella's wind and rain was replaced by wintry showers, with snow sticking in all four Black Country boroughs, Staffordshire and Birmingham.
Dudley Zoo was closed for the bank holiday as a result of the adverse weather and Kidderminster Harriers' match against AFC Telford was called off due to the road conditions.
Meanwhile although Severn Valley Railway was open on Monday it has announced no services will be operating on Tuesday.
The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for snow and ice across the region and much of the UK in place until Monday evening - and further snow could be on the way with more alerts in force for later in the week.
Drivers were encouraged to avoid travelling where possible and to take extra care in dangerous conditions after multiple crashes were reported across the West Midlands
All of the major motorways in the region were affected, with incidents partially closing stretches of the M6 and M54, while many stranded cars blocked treacherous local roads such as the A458 near Enville throughout the morning.
"If you do have to drive this morning then please drive slowly and leave extra distance from the vehicle ahead," the police collision investigation unit for the region said.
Meanwhile all bin collections were suspended in Wolverhampton and the tips at Shaw Road and Anchor Lane were closed as a result of the snow.
The council said services would resume on Tuesday if possible but would be running two days behind.
The Black Country is part of large swathes of the UK that have now been warned that they could be affected by more snow and ice on Wednesday and Thursday.
All of the West Midlands is included in a yellow alert in place until 10am on Tuesday but only areas south of the M54 and Lichfield are affected by the alert for later in the week, which is in place until 10am on Thursday.
The weather warning says there is the potential for patches of snow across parts of England and Wales with 5-10cm falling in a few places, such as higher ground in Wales above 200 metres.
The chilly temperatures follow several days of wintry weather over the Christmas period which brought flooding to parts of southern England before Storm Bella arrived on Boxing Day with winds of more than 100mph.
Flooding was also reported in parts of eastern England by Sunday morning, with kayakers taking to the roads in Norfolk in an attempt to traverse water-logged streets.
As of 4am on Monday, 103 flood warnings remained in place across England calling for immediate action ahead of expected flooding, alongside 193 flood alerts.
Despite the bad conditions, gales meant that for the first time ever more than half of Britain’s electricity was generated by wind power on Saturday.
According to energy firm Drax, 50.67 per cent of the country’s power was produced by wind turbines on Boxing Day.
