Hundreds of motorists have been stranded on a major motorway for more than ten hours after blizzards dumped 15 inches of snow.

Fuming drivers on the M62, which runs between Manchester and near Hull, had to shelter in their vehicles as artic weather swept across the country during the early morning.

And “chaotic” videos and pictures taken by motorists showed huge snow drifts forming, as they were forced to wait out the wintry conditions with limited supplies.

One frustrated motorist who spent all night on the M62 described their journey as “hell” after she was forced to sit on the road for 10 hours.

She said the Baltic conditions had made the surface feel like an “ice rink” and blasted local police for only getting to her at 8am this morning.  

She said: “It’s been hell. I’ve just got out of it now. I was there for 10 hours. I did 15 miles in eight hours. There were no traffic officers or police til 8am. Complete standstill all night. 

“No ploughs or anything. Lorries we’re breaking down all over the road in every lane. Drivers had to bob and weave their own way through it all. 

“People were walking all over the motorway when I left. People were digging others out, police driving up and down. It was a free for all and an ice rink

Another angry motorist writing on social media said she’d been sitting in her car since 11.40 pm on Thursday – and was running out of water.

She wrote: “So we have been on the M62 since 1140pm last night — it’s now 9am…This is actually a joke.”

Drivers also complained about the “chaotic” scenes they had witnessed and said they would never forget the scale of the huge snow flurry.

One said: “Well…let’s just say that the M62 was nothing short of absolute chaos this morning. 

“The scenes and the video/images we got of our ordeal in the snow are definitely one for the memory books. Here’s a taster of our 6-hour ordeal in the snowstorm.

“No surprise that the roads were like that…we always come to a standstill with even the smallest amount of snow it seems.

Another said they had watched vehicles sliding dangerously around on the road's surface, adding: “Playing dodgems here on the #m62 don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this.

While a further motorist said: “I’ve done a grand total of 15 miles in 8 hours

“No highway officers, no police, nothing. Just outside Halifax. The plough has been up and down westbound multiple times though”.

The Met Office has issued three amber warnings for northern England, the Midlands, North Wales and Northern Ireland, where "significant disruption" to transport and power supplies is expected.

Early, National Highways issued a “severe weather alert” for North West, North East & Midlands regions.