A sudden temperature drop following a prolonged bout of heavy rain has caused carnage on Wiltshire’s roads.

Standing water freezing over and turning into deadly black ice has led to Wiltshire police and other emergency services responding to several crashes in and around the town, including fatality.

The crash on an icy road near Chippenham  resulted in the death of a 34-year-old man.

And with the Met Office forecasting another drop below zero police have issued a further warning to the county’s motorists to be careful Wednesday morning.

A spokesperson for the police said: “Please avoid unnecessary journeys and if you must drive, reduce your speed - it can take 10 times longer to stop in icy conditions.”

On Monday afternoon, the Environment Agency still had ten flood warnings for Swindon, urging people to take precautions against rising water, but by Monday evening, temperatures had plummeted, and a new threat emerged  ice.

That evening emergency services, including the police, were called out to several crashes that are believed to have been caused by black ice that evening.

The most serious incident was on a stretch of road heading north away from Yatton Keynell near Chippenham where two cars collided in a head-on crash at 7.30pm

An unnamed 34-year-old male Audi driver was killed in that crash, with police stating that ice on the road would form part of their investigation, although it was too soon to tell if it had a significant role in the crash.

Officers were also called by the ambulance services to a two-car crash on the B3089 in Berwick St Leonard. One of the vehicles had flipped onto its side and a woman was taken to hospital by air ambulance in a serious condition.

There were reports of other collisions at Sandridge Common near Melksham, the A432 at Wedhampton, the A350 at Kington Langley and the A361 at Seend.

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said it had attended eight crashes that evening.

Things did not improve overnight and on Tuesday morning police were called to a minor two-vehicle crash near The Bungalow on Washpool caused by ice on the road.

Swindon officers were also needed to manage traffic at Thamesdown Drive and Moredon Way because of a large section of ice causing excessive tailbacks.

Motorists reported issues all over the town - like in Kite Hill in Wanborough where a long-running water leak had frozen over and made turning into the residential streets at the bottom of the hill perilous. 

Icicles above the carriageway also caused three out of four lanes to be closed on the M4 westbound between J19-J20, as well as two lanes eastbound between J20-J19.

Wiltshire Police put out a warning on Tuesday afternoon after all these incidents, which was reinforced by a yellow weather warning for ice and snow for the Swindon area being issued by the Met Office.

It said: “Following the recent very wet weather, sub-zero temperatures overnight will mean that any water seeping onto roads will continue to freeze, leading to icy stretches, particularly, but not exclusively on untreated surfaces.

“Ice is likely to cause difficult driving conditions overnight into Wednesday morning.”

It added that people should expect ‘some injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces’ and ‘icy patches on some untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths.’