Major highway traffic frozen by heavy snowfall

Heavy snow has left thousands of drivers stranded overnight on the Don Highway, which runs from Moscow to the Rostov region in central Russia. The snowfall and ice led to numerous accidents.

Units from the North Caucasus Military worked through the night in an effort to clear the road.

Many drivers were airlifted to temporary accommodation as temperatures plummeted to minus 15 degrees Centigrade.

Fuel is being delivered to some snow ploughs which ran dry, and are still needed to help clear the highway.

Traffic has begun slowly to move again, but there are huge logjams throughout the area, some estimated to be 40 kilometers long.