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Gritters in the Peak District ground to a halt on Saturday as they were unable to pass a popular beauty spot with 200 cars double parked on the road.
Derbyshire County Council said its crews were unable to get past all the vehicles which blocked Rushup Edge and Man Nick on the road down to Edale.
The route is near Mam Tor, a popular beauty spot for hiking which offers views over the Edale Valley to Kinder Scout and the Derwent Moor.
“We have issues with cars double parked on Rushup Edge and Man Nick on the road down to Edale,” the council said in a post on X, accompanied by pictures taken of the road.
“Our gritters cannot get through with around 200 cars in the area. Please move your car if you are in the area. If we can’t get through neither would a bus or fire engine.”
Derbyshire has been covered in ice and snow in recent days as temperatures have plummeted and tourists have flocked to the county to see the wintry scenes.
Gritters are essential to keep roads safe to drive on during the icy weather. Their interrupted journey in the Peak District comes after the UK experienced its coldest January night in 15 years.
Altnaharra, a hamlet in the most northern region of the Highlands, recorded minus 18.7C on Friday night, the Met Office said.
It is the coldest January overnight temperature since 2010, when temperatures dropped below minus 15C several times at locations across the UK, including minus 22.3C on January 8 in Altnaharra.
Elsewhere, temperatures for large parts of the UK are set to fall again as the cold weather continues.
Saturday night is forecast to be cold once again, and Met Office meteorologist Zoe Hutin said: “It will be mainly eastern parts that see temperatures dropping widely below freezing, so East Anglia, the north-east of England, northern and eastern Scotland as well.
“So another chilly night to come on Saturday, but then as we go into Sunday and into Monday, then we can start to expect temperatures to recover somewhat.
“I won’t rule out the risk of seeing something around or just below freezing again on Sunday night into Monday, but it won’t be quite so dramatic as the temperatures that we’re going to experience as we go overnight tonight.”
Looking ahead to next week, she said: “We’re saying it’s getting milder but by no stretch does that mean (temperatures) are going to be above average – it just will feel comparatively much more pleasant than it is at the moment.”
The UK has experienced a “particularly long cold spell”, she said, adding: “It has been getting progressively colder each night this week, whereas looking at previous years, we’ve had maybe two or three days where things have been particularly cold.”
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