SNOWFALL plunged the region into chaos yesterday as one motorist died and several others were injured in a seven car pile-up.
Meteorological experts said the weather was not unusual for early March yet the falling temperatures led to delays on the county's roads and railways as Merseyside struggled to cope with the cold snap.
A 58-year-old Maghull man died in yesterday's serious road accident when seven cars collided with each other near Switch Island on the M57 just after 7.30am.
Two fire crews and one special rescue unit were called to the scene but the motorist was pronounced dead at the scene.
Five other people - three women and two men - were taken to Fazakerley Hospital suffering cuts, bruises and whiplash.
While traffic mounted up in busy areas, coastal areas were the worst hit by the bad weather in terms of snow fall and temperatures.
Birkenhead recorded 15cms of snow over two days while Liverpool and Chester saw a dusting of around 5cms.
Snowfall continued well into the afternoon yesterday, contributing to more traffic chaos on Merseyside roads.
A 4x4 vehicle rolled after it collided with a car on the Formby bypass between Woodvale and the BP garage yesterday afternoon.
Two crews of firefighters and paramedics were called to the scene at 2.45pm but nobody was seriously injured.
Three people were taken to Southport hospital as a precautionary measure and firefighters made the road safe.
On an average day Mersey Regional Ambulance Service handles two road traffic accidents at any one time, but at one point yesterday the service was dealing with 11 emergencies.
The spokesman said: "Dealing with 11 incidents at one point was, in our view, a significant increase.
"Yesterday we had a steady and consistent flow of calls to the 999 number. The road conditions were just as bad for us as for everyone else, taking us a little bit longer to get to people.
"We are asking people to really think about whether the situation is an emergency before calling 999 and are telling members of the public to be careful when they set out for work in the morning. A lot of accidents can be avoided if extra care is taken on the roads."
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