Heavy snowfall has closed schools and shut down Birmingham’s airport runway, bringing disruption to the region.
All council-run schools in Birmingham, Solihull and Dudley have closed, along with some schools in Coventry and Wolverhampton.
Flights leaving Birmingham International Airport were grounded after snow fell on frozen runways.
Airport spokeswoman Rebecca Salter said: "Snow, on top of freezing runways and taxiways, is now starting to cause difficulties.
"We have a number of flights boarded and ready to go but they will not depart until we are satisfied that the runways and the taxiways are ready for use."
She said the weather had only become a problem after a large blanket of snow came in and settled on top of ice.
A forecaster for MeteoGroup UK, said that about 7cm of snow had fallen since the early hours of Thursday.
He said the weather was "the most widespread snow event of the winter," adding: "We just haven’t had this sort of thing in recent years."
The Highways Agency said salt-spreading vehicles were on stand-by in the region, which thought to be one of the worst hit areas.
It advised drivers not to travel unless their journey was essential, and to bring warm clothes, food, water, boots, de-icer, a torch and spade on long journeys.
