THE blast of winter Weather brought misery to travellers across Lancashire today. Motorists were hit by a sudden hailstorm which caused two accidents in Church Street, Blackburn, within minutes of each other.

A Vauxhall Corsa hit railings after skidding on the bend near Barclays bank. Minutes later, two cars collided at the traffic lights outside Debenhams. No-one was injured.

There was also severe disruption for train travellers when a power failure brought Preston station to a standstill. Trains from Colne were terminating at Blackburn with buses ferrying passengers on to Preston.

The power first went off at 5.15am but just when Railtrack engineers thought they had solved the problem there was a cable fire which further delayed repairs.

Speed restrictions of 30mph were also in force on the M65.

Weathermen are predicting more snow in the county tonight and tomorrow.

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