But students and workers showed true grit in battling the big freeze, schools opened to enable exams to go ahead and shops and firms opened for business as usual.

The bad weather presented a particular challenge for schools holding A-level and AS level exams this week. Brighouse High School, Rastrick High School and Hipperholme and Lightcliffe High School opened for exams and most pupils were able to get through the ice and snow.

At Hipperholme and Lightcliffe High, more than 30 staff arrived at 7am on Monday to clear the car park and paths into the building. Head teacher Mr Anthony Smith said the school had been closed for most of last week but it was felt important that exams should go ahead as normal this week.

"These were a unique set of circumstances and the safety of staff and pupils must come first. There has been a really good atmosphere in school and this week we have told students to wear sensible warm clothing."

Brighouse High student Rebecca Stobart, aged 17, pleaded with a taxi driver to get her to school in time for her maths and physics exams. "I was just about to set out to get the bus when my dad rang to say the buses from Odsal were not running because of the ice. I set out with my mum to get a taxi but the taxi-driver was not keen to come into Brighouse. Eventually, after a lot of pleading from me and my mum, he agreed to get me here."

Wajid Ghani, 19, said his journey to school from Huddersfield had taken an hour and a half instead of 30 minutes and Umar Aziz, also 19, of Wyke said the black ice had made his journey very difficult.

Head teacher Mrs Liz Cresswell said: "The start of term has been extremely disrupted by the weather conditions. The snow led to early closure, partial opening and full closure on two days last week. Making the decision whether to open or close is a difficult call given that the health and safety of our 1,400 children and almost 200 staff is paramount. We hired a snow plough, ordered extra grit and had emergency labour on standby. Most pupils have struggled in and worked hard."

Rastrick High School student Gareth Neal only managed to sit his maths exam on Monday thanks to a Good Samaritan. "I set out early from Milnsbridge to drive to school but after about a mile the road was so icy and the traffic was so bad that I couldn't get any further and decided to go back home. When I told my neighbour, Richard, he came to my rescue and offered to take me in his 4 x 4 otherwise I would have missed my exam."

Employees at Marshall's plc in Southowram and Elland have battled through to make sure they have reported for duty as normal.

Group manager Neil Davidson said people had made a tremendous effort to ensure they got to work.

"For people travelling up to Southowram it has been a bit sticky at times but they have got there," he said.

He also had a word of praise for Calderdale Council gritting teams who had turned out to help keep routes clear.

"We have used equipment from the West Lane depot at Southowram, along with some of our workforce, to help clear roads in the village. This has helped people in the community as well as ourselves," said Mr Davidson. "Everyone has done their best."

The severe freeze caused the closure of a number of roads including Healey Wood Road, Brighouse, Rayner Road, Brighouse, and Queens Road and Norwood Green Hill, Norwood Green, and Tan House Hill, Hipperholme. and Shibden Hall Road.

A number of bus services across the district were disrupted or were taking different routes.