Roads closed and car crashes on icy roads in Dorset

It came after flooding disruption on Monday and as the Met Office’s amber cold weather alert which warned of plummeting temperatures for most of this week.

The freezing conditions overnight from Monday to Tuesday resulted in black ice on the roads which consequently saw two major routes closed in the region and a number of crashes.

The A37 was closed between Dorchester and Yeovil due to a three-vehicle collision at 6.45pm on Monday.

The road was shut while emergency services responded to the incident, and one person was treated by paramedics before the route was reopened.

To the east of the county, police and paramedics were at the scene of a multi-vehicle crash on the A35 at the Bakers Arms roundabout on Monday night - the road closure was still in place yesterday morning.

Also on Monday evening, police were called at 6.54pm to reports of a four vehicle collision on the A35 Upton bypass.

The road was closed in both directions and recovery requested for the vehicles. There were no reports of injuries, the force said.

The coast road near Abbotsbury was also closed yesterday morning due to the ice.

It comes after emergency services asked people to consider whether or not journeys are essential.

Dorset Police said its call handlers received calls about multiple collisions across the county as black ice formed on county roads.

Temperatures were due to drop to -6 overnight in some areas and Dorset Council highways teams were out gritting major routes overnight.

Such was the danger of the icy roads the fire service warned the public to only travel if essential. They said: “Fire control operators and firefighters have been dealing with multiple road traffic collisions.

“Colleagues across the emergency services are busy too as the roads in Dorset and Wiltshire are treacherous. If you don’t need to go out, please don’t.

“If you must travel, please take extra care - there is lots of black ice on the roads.

“Council colleagues are working hard to grit the roads, but it’s safer just to stay at home.”

Several bus services including school runs were cancelled due to the treacherous conditions.

The bitterly cold air even took its toll on refuse services with teams struggling to remove waste that had become frozen in bins and garden waste bags.

Dorste Council said: “Once again we’re getting reports from our crews about frozen food and garden waste bin contents not emptying into our vehicles.

“If your food or garden waste bin hasn’t been completely emptied after we’ve been round due to frozen contents, please keep hold of the waste until your next collection.”

Flooding remained an issue on some roads as well as the ice, as the Moor was closed in both directions for the second day running between the A35 (Puddletown/Blandford) and Tolpuddle turn-off.

Other reports stated that vehicles had been stranded in surface water north of Blandford while roads in  Sturminster Marshall were also victim to flooding which caused delays for drivers in the area.