MANCHESTER, England, Dec. 4  -- An early winter storm choked roads Thursday in northern England and southern Scotland and led to the closing of several hundred schools.

Up to 6 inches of snow was reported, The Daily Mail said, with the heaviest fall in the Dumfries area in southwestern Scotland. In southern England, the storm took the form of rain.

In Lancashire, soldiers from the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment helped rescue about 70 people stuck on a busy road near Blackburn at about 7:30 a. m. The operation, involving two heavy utility vehicles on a stretch of road where snowplows got stuck, took about four hours.

Conditions were also bad in Yorkshire.

"There isn't an area that has not been affected," a Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said. "Cars are skidding off the road and blocking them."

Lancashire police warned drivers to be sure they had gas in their tanks, deicer and lots of warm clothes before starting.

"Even routine journeys can spell disaster if you are caught out by bad weather," said Inspector Phil Cottam of the motorway unit. (UPI)