Commuters faced long delays as they battled home through the snow in Birmingham today.
Wintry showers brought parts of the city to a standstill and treacherous conditions were being reported on main routes.
The worst weather hit the south of Birmingham, with Redditch left under a two-inch blanket of snow by 5pm.
Traffic on the M42 slowed down considerably through Warwickshire and Worcestershire.
Birmingham City Council initially said that it did not plan to send gritting lorries out unless snow started to settle on trunk roads but eventually decided to begin gritting on major routes at about 6pm.
Flights out of Birmingham International Airport were suspended between 5pm and 8pm because of the weather.
Sleet and snow was expected to fall across the region until the early morning.
The Met Office said temperatures were expected to dip below freezing during the night but no further snow is expected on Friday.
A spokesman for the city council said at tea-time: “We are not going out immediately because it is wet snow falling at this stage and it does not appear to be sticking.
“We will be keeping a close eye on the situation throughout the evening.
“We have 27 gritting lorries loaded and ready to go and staff are on stand by.”
