Winter weather brings both joy and misery for South Tyneside
Commuters were faced with rush hour misery today as the first winter snow arrived in South Tyneside.
This was followed by high winds which led to some dramatic sea conditions on the coast.
Snow began falling across the borough during the early hours and caused problems for many trying to get to work.
There were delays for motorists passing through Whitburn Village and also at Testos Roundabout in Boldon.
The Metro service was delayed by about 30 minutes due to signalling issues and there were a number of crashes on the A19 and A1 both south and northbound.
However, the snow didn’t bring misery for everyone.
Pooches Ella and Olga had the time of their lives running about on Cleadon Hills.
While Jessica Anthony’s pets Rosie and Bruce made the most of the white stuff in Hebburn park.
Lisa Neilson snapped a lovely picture of Harry who enjoyed making footprints in the snow.
While talented Grace Boyack was out first thing to build a snowman.
Steff Dickinson sent in a lovely picture of her trio all wrapped up warmly while on the school run.
As the snow started to melt by the afternoon, the wind picked up and giant waves bashed the South Shields coastline.
A picket fence on Sandhaven Beach became engulfed by the North Sea, while a number of flood warnings were in place higher up the Tyne due to a potential spring tidal surge.
Council bosses say their gritters are now also on standby incase the bad weather continues over the weekend.
A spokesman for South Tyneside Council said: “We gritted on Thursday night and early Friday morning. We plan to grit again this afternoon as wintery showers have been forecast.
“Throughout the weekend we will grit at night-time and there are crews on standby should additional gritting be required during the daytime.”
The borough might have seen the last of the snow for a while.
The Met Office, which has a weather warning in place until lunchtime for possible icy surfaces, is expecting Saturday to be dry with highs of 2C.
While Sunday and Monday are predicted to be wet and rainy with temperatures raising no higher than 8C.