Snow in Suffolk causing delays on A14, A1307, A143, A11 and A142

Motorists are facing delays on roads across Suffolk this morning as the county wakes up to a blanket of snow.

West Suffolk has been worst affected, reports of a crash on the A143 at Chedburgh.

Although there are no other major incidents reported at the moment, traffic sensors and cameras across the road network show traffic heavier than normal and queuing as motorists rightly slow down and drive to the conditions.

The A11 around Newmarket is slow, there are some delays on the A14 around Bury St Edmunds, the A1307 from Haverhill to Cambridge is particularly heavy and there are also delays near Sudbury on the A131.

Motorists are advised to allow extra time if making a journey today.

Tips for driving in snow from the RAC include:

• Allow for more time than you normally would before you leave to clear car windows, mirrors, lights and the top of your roof of snow before setting off, driving with snow on you car could result in you breaking the law.
• Be prepared for every eventuality by ensuring that your car is equipped with the following: demisting pad, torch (wind-up so you don’t run out of battery), a hi-vis vest to make you visible if you break down, a blanket to keep you warm, some food, a drink, spare screenwash, de-icer, ice scraper, blanket, shovel, phone charger, map, a first aid kit, a warning triangle, some jump leads, a spade and a square of carpet that you can use to put under your drive wheels should you get stuck in the snow.
• Accelerate gently, use low revs and change up to a higher gear as quickly as possible.

• Move off in second gear as this will help reduce wheel slip.
• Get your speed right and maintain safe stopping distances between you and the car in front, leaving as much as 10 times the normal recommended gap.
• When approaching a bend, brake before you actually start to turn the steering wheel. If your car does lose grip try not to panic; the key thing is to take your foot off the accelerator and make sure that your wheels are pointing in the direction you want to go in.
• If you do encounter a skid, steer gently into it - for example, if the rear of the car is sliding to the right, steer to the right. Do not take your hands off the steering wheel or stamp your foot on the brakes.
• When driving in heavy snow, make sure that you use your dipped headlights. Relying on daytime running lights is not enough, because they don’t always put lights on the back of your car.
• If visibility drops below a 100m, put your fog lights on. But remember to turn them off when the visibility improves.

Get more traffic and travel news from across Suffolk here.

Read more: Here are the latest Suffolk headlines.