MOTORISTS have told how they were trapped overnight in sub-zero conditions after they became snowbound on the M74.
Cars and lorries were gridlocked on the motorway after heavy snow and ice caused treacherous driving conditions on Tuesday night and into yesterday morning.
For some, journeys that should have taken them home after a few hours turned into overnight stays after police closed parts of the motorway in Lanarkshire in both directions.
Mat Jackson, a product manager with Siemens, left Glasgow just after 3pm on Tuesday, and arrived home in Manchester at 11.30am the next day after becoming trapped in his car.
The 29-year-old, who was returning from a business trip with a colleague, said that matters were made worse by drivers trying to change lanes and becoming trapped in snow drifts.
He said: “We were coming up to Abington and the traffic just slowed to a crawl and then stopped, and that was it for about 12 hours.
“We would see gritters go past, but the snow would come back and just cover the road within a few minutes, meaning that nothing was moving. There were cars coming up the hard shoulder with their hazard lights on pretending to be emergency vehicles, which blocked off some traffic. And other cars tried to switch lanes but there was about a foot of snow piled up so they ended up getting stuck, making everything worse.”
Homes Under The Hammer presenter Martel Maxwell was another caught up in the chaos.
She tweeted: “Nine hours on the M74 yesterday. I’m so lucky I didn’t have to stay all night. I took a gamble and went off road.
“When I rejoined the motorway I was the only one there. It felt like a bit Mad Max.”
She said that some had sought to make money from the stranded motorists, adding: “I hope the lady who charged £10 a burger at the side of the road to the lorry drivers made great profit (that’s sarcasm).”
Sam Sykes, a surveyor from Biggar, South Lanarkshire, said he was stuck on the M74 for around 12 hours – from 6pm on Tuesday until around 5.30am yesterday.
The 25-year-old was travelling from Dalry in Ayrshire to Biggar, after work.
He said: “It was really horrible as you would imagine. I got a little bit of sleep but the combination of cold and not knowing if you were going to be moving again restricted that.”
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