Snowy and icy conditions caused chaos on Oxfordshire’s roads, days after the recent cold snap finally drew to a close.
The return of the white stuff caused treacherous driving conditions for motorists on Sunday and Monday morning.
Schools opened late and bin collections were delayed across the county while emergency shelter was provided to rough sleepers in Oxford.
On the roads, emergency services were scrambled to two major incidents when a car slipped off the M40 and caught fire before a lorry crashed though the barriers on the Oxford Eastern Bypass.
A raging fire wrecked the car that skidded off the M40 near Bicester after crashing down the verge of an icy slip road.
Firefighters were called out just after 4.30am on Sunday to the southbound entry slip road onto the M40, at junction 9 (Wendlebury).
The driver veered off the slippery road and rolled down a steep embankment, managing to escape before the car burst into flames.
Police closed the road so firefighters could make the scene safe, but Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service did not specify whether the person was injured. A statement issued by the fire service said the driver was ‘fortunate’ to escape from the car before it caught fire.
The same day, a lorry fell off the bridge section of the Oxford Eastern Bypass.
The KBC Logistics lorry crashed through the central reservation at around 11pm, ploughing through the nearside barrier and falling off the bridge before landing on the roundabout of the B480 below.
A pothole combined with icy conditions have been blamed for the incident.
One lane of the bypass was still closed at Cowley as we went to press on Wednesday.
Go to tinyurl.com/y9eto7dn for advice on safe driving in icy conditions.
To update in morning
