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The picturesque winter wonderland that the snow created in Liverpool on last Monday night and throughout Tuesday caused major transport problems in Merseyside, and forced John Moores University to close for the rest of the week.

Exams at Aintree were also cancelled, but staff have been working all weekend to ensure that university buildings will re-open as normal on Monday 11th January.

The snowfall, which was described as ‘exceptional’ by the Highways Agency and the Met Office, caused long delays on all forms of transport, and was thought to be the heaviest in almost 30 years.

John Lennon Airport was shut at 5.30am on Tuesday, with flights being cancelled to and from Liverpool due to the dangerous landing conditions. It was then closed again later in the afternoon soon after it reopened. The city's bus services also stopped running heading into the evening rush-hour.

As the snow turned to ice, many of the motorways in the North West suffered closures or long delays following accidents and slow traffic. Major accidents involving jackknifed lorries were reported on both the M62 and M6, with minor bumps on the M58 and M57 causing lanes to be closed.

Motorways and local roads continue to be gritted. However, commuters have still faced heavy congestion on main local routes, such as Aigburth Road and Edge Lane, where buses were reported to take up to an hour to navigate a small 600-metre stretch on thick ice.

Work is ongoing in an effort to prevent further disruptions to the region's trainline. Commuters travelling from Liverpool Lime Street to Manchester stations were experiencing delays of up to 50 minutes on Tuesday.

Refuse and recycling collections were suspended, and hundreds of schools were closed. JMU shut from Wednesday afternoon onwards, including all Learning Resource Centres.

JMU examinations at Aintree scheduled for Wednesday to Friday 6-8th January were cancelled and the exams may be rescheduled at a later date or an alternative form of assessment may be set, if appropriate. Students are advised that they will be contacted by their School with details about the new arrangements in the next week.