Drivers have been urged to take care on the roads after emergency services dealt with multiple collisions following a spell of late night freezing temperatures and early morning black ice.
Overnight there have been “an unusually large number, approximately 45, RTC incidents reported across the county as a result of ice and black ice on the roads, police say.
And in a five day period from Christmas Eve until today (Monday 29) there have been 180 collisions - 61 of which have left people with injuries, according to police figures.
Cambridgeshire chief fire officer Graham Stagg said: “As the temperature falls and the roads become icier, we’re asking motorists to please take extra care.
“Drive to the conditions of the road, slow down and allow room and time for braking.
“Our firefighters are specially trained to rescue casualties from vehicles using well-practised methods and advanced equipment. However, we would much rather there were fewer collisions, fewer casualties for us to rescue, and certainly, no lives lost on Cambridgeshire’s roads this winter.
A Cambridgeshire Police spokesman reinforced the message saying: “We are urging motorists to reduce their speed and drive to the conditions of the road and to bear in mind that some roads are not gritted and black ice can form on them.”
In one incident a woman was taken to hospital with slight injuries after a collision on the A141 at Chatteris.
While officers were dealing that, others were called to the B1040 at Ramsey Road, Whittlesey, after reports of another collision.
Cars also skidded off the road on the Wimblington Road, Manea, and another vehicle lost the road at Coates and over turned.
The Earith to Willingham road was also closed following what police described as a “serious incident”. It has since reopened.
Fenland police issued an urgent warning to motorists to “take extra care on the roads; there is still plenty of ice despite the rising sun”.
Black ice caused concern throughout the morning and the Chatteris to Huntingdon Road was described as dangerous/
“Please take extra care, despite gritting the road is very slippery and there have been numerous crashes already,” said a police spokesman.
Flooding also caused a problem as the decision was taken to close the North Bank, Whittlesey, with police appealing to motorists “to please use an alternative route until otherwise advised”.
Up to 20 collisions were reported to Cambridgeshire police during a three hour spell on Sunday morning.
Cambridgeshire County Council said their gritters were out on primary and secondary routes.
“Although we’ll once again be gritting due to the freezing temp and water still on roads expect icy patches,” said a council spokesman.
“Due to flood warnings we are also laying extra grit at entrances and exits of fords.”
With temperatures again due to fall to -3 the council said its gritting team will be out again from 2pm and again from 3am tomorrow.
The Environment Agency said there were 13 flood alerts across East Anglia and they urged people “not to talk or drive through floods”.
Temperatures are forecast to drop to below 0 degrees tonight.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here