The army was called in to help the Guardia Civil rescue around 120 snowbound motorists trapped on the AP-66 toll motorway during the early hours of this morning.

All are now safe and well after spending what remained of the night in hotels or hostels, and only one person required medical treatment after suffering a temporary blackout.

They were caught in a blizzard near the town of Barrios de Luna roughly 45km from León.

Eleven motorists were also stranded at a service station near Rioseco de Tapia until snow ploughs were deployed to clear a path to León though some preferred to stay put.

37 mountain passes in Spain's most northernly thirteen provinces remain closed to traffic and further heavy snowfalls are forecast over the coming hours in Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque Country, Girona, Barcelona, Ávila, Burgos, León, Palencia, Segovia and Soria.