Heavy snow sparked major disruption across Bradford district amid hazardous road conditions and 200 school closures.
Arctic weather from Storm Larisa swept across the UK from Thursday evening into the early hours of Friday.
The wintery conditions saw snow depths hit 10 inches in Denholme, and 14cm in Bingley, according to the Met Office.
The forecaster’s rare amber weather warning for snow and ice will remain in place until 6am on Sunday.
There was traffic chaos on the M62, between Junction 24 and 22, with one stranded driver describing scenes of broken down lorries, extreme queues and “ice rink” conditions.
Fuming drivers had to shelter in their vehicles with limited supplies as huge snow drifts formed on the motorway.
One frustrated motorist, who spent all night on the M62, spent ten hours in queueing traffic.
She said the Baltic conditions made the surface feel like an “ice rink” and blasted police for only getting to her at 8am.
She said: “It’s been hell. I’ve just got out of it now. I was there for 10 hours. I did 15 miles in 8 hours. There were no traffic officers or police till 8am. Complete standstill all night.
“No ploughs or anything. Lorries were breaking down all over the road in every lane. Drivers had to bob and weave their own way through it all.
“People were walking all over the motorway when I left. People were digging others out, police driving up and down. It was a free for all and an ice rink."
Another angry motorist writing on social media said she’d been sitting in her car since 11.40 pm on Thursday – and was running out of water.
She wrote: “It’s now 9am…this is actually a joke.”
Drivers also complained about the “chaotic” scenes they had witnessed and said they would never forget the scale of the huge snow flurry.
One said: “The M62 was nothing short of absolute chaos this morning.
“The scenes and video/images we got of our ordeal in the snow are definitely one for the memory books. Here’s a taster of our six hour ordeal in the snowstorm.
“No surprise that the roads were like that…we always come to a standstill with even the smallest amount of snow it seems.”
Another said they had watched vehicles sliding dangerously around on the road's surface, adding: “Playing dodgems here. Don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this.”
One driver said: “No highway officers, no police, nothing. Just outside Halifax. The plough has been up and down westbound multiple times.”
The key transpennine motorway was closed for around an hour from 2.30am, but reopened at about 3.30am.
Some motorists reported being stuck in eight mile long queues.
RAC breakdown spokesman Rod Dennis said issues became more treacherous when drivers attempted to overtake slower moving traffic before getting stuck in a lane of fresh snow.
He reported a sharp rise in drivers getting stuck in snow in Yorkshire, especially around Bradford, Leeds, Sheffield, and Hull.
Breakdown volumes are also very high in the East Midlands and north of London as drivers attempt to start their vehicles.
Meanwhile several roads in other parts of the district became impassable, including a number in Wilsden, Denholme and Haworth.
Elsewhere, police and fire officers urged people to avoid travelling following horrendous driving conditions between Skipton and Harrogate, with 18 miles of chaos reported.
Hundreds of schools and colleges across Bradford district took the decision to close following a night of heavy snow.
The University of Bradford also closed its campus due to extreme weather.
Bradford Council's emergency school closures alert system experienced technical difficulties for the second day as people frantically tried to access the page.
Despite the treacherous conditions, there were moments of joy and happy memories to be had.
Friends Zach Elliott and Alex Ludbrook enjoyed snowball fights and sledging in Keelham.
Over at City Park, a group of teenagers could be seen throwing snowballs around the Mirror Pool.
Idle residents Jenna Clegg and her husband Adam were out with 19-month-old son Alex, their niece, Amelia, five, and the children's grandmother Debra Clegg at Idle Recreation Ground.
She said the family was keen to get out and enjoy it "because it's really nice when you have little ones".
"This is his first snow ever," said Jenna of little Alex.
"He just loves it.
"When he first saw the snow looking out the window this morning, he said 'all fall down'.
"Lovely, fluffy, white snow is my favourite kind.”
A Bradford Council spokesperson, speaking on Friday, said: "Our gritter crews have been out since 3am this morning gritting all Priority One Routes across the district. This will continue throughout the day and in to this evening.
"Patrols will be out overnight gritting main routes. Full crews will then be back out from 4.30am tomorrow morning.
"Pavements in the towns and city centres are being gritted and grit bins are being topped back up.
"Information about gritting including a map of our gritting routes and winter driving advice can be found here."
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