Icy roads remain driving threat

Drivers are being warned of further treacherous conditions after black ice was blamed for a series of 10 road accidents which brought road chaos to parts of Carmarthenshire on Monday.

The A40 closed between St Clears and Carmarthen early on Monday, delaying westbound A48 traffic by three hours.

The road did not reopen until the afternoon.

The Met Office issued a severe weather warning of icy roads in south, west and north Wales through Monday night.

Affected counties listed were Bridgend, Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, Anglesey, Neath Port Talbot, Newport, Pembrokeshire, Swansea and the Vale of Glamorgan, the Met Office said.

Many counties had sent gritters out on Monday evening, and were monitoring the weather situation overnight.

Earlier the Met Office had said snow could fall in the south and north-east of Wales on Monday evening.

'Best efforts'

Monday morning's blockage on the A48 at Carmarthen was due to the A40 further west being closed by a number of accidents in the early rush hour.

The road reopened halfway through Monday afternoon, but there were still reports of ice on the A484, A48 and the A40 at 1530 GMT.

"Despite our best efforts, there was nothing we could do to avoid this situation Richard Workman, Carmarthenshire council

Mid and West Wales Fire Service said they had attended 10 road accidents on the A40 between Carmarthen and Whitland.

A woman was taken to hospital with suspected spinal injuries after her car overturned on a country lane near Llangunnor.

A school bus was involved in another collision, at Pinged near Burry Port, although no children were reported to have suffered any injuries.

Carmarthenshire Council transport manager Stephen Pilliner said a 4x4 vehicle was in collision with the front of a bus taking pupils to Glanymor Comprehensive School.

"The driver of the 4x4 was taken to hospital," he said.

"Half of the children were taken to school by other transport and the other half were picked up by their parents.

"Paramedics have attended the school to check the children for shock - they are all ok at the moment and the situation is being monitored."

Five vehicles were involved in another accident and people are believed to be trapped in a vehicle in another crash in the Llangunnor area.

There were further road accidents in Burry Port and Pembrey.

Carmarthenshire Council, which advised people to travel only if their journey was essential, said gritting lorries were out on all main routes across the county at 1700 GMT on Sunday and again at 0500 GMT on Monday.

But it said freezing rain at around 0730 GMT and plummeting temperatures led to patches of black ice developing on many roads.