Moment lorry driver calmly walks away from huge hay bale fire on M4

A huge haybale fire has brought a busy motorway to a standstill.

Video shows firefighters struggling to extinguish the massive fire on the back of the lorry that had stopped on the M4 near Slough.

A man, believed to be the driver, was pictured calmly walking to safety texting on his phone as the flames enveloped the truck behind him.

Emergency services rushed to the scene between Junction 6 (Slough) and Junctions 8/9 (Maidenhead) as smoke billowed over the motorway.

Firefighters battled the blaze using breathing apparatus and hose reels, focusing on damping down the hay load to prevent re-ignition.

‘The M4 in Berkshire is closed westbound between J6 and J8/9 due to an HGV fire,’ confirmed National Highways.

‘The HGV was carrying hay so fire crews will need to dampen down the load to ensure it does not re-ignite.’

It only adds to the chaos on the roads caused by the weather.

Drivers in North Yorkshire were forced to abandon their cars and walk on foot after heavy snow, with more wintry weather on the way today.

They have also been warned to only make journeys that are necessary after heavy snow overnight hit roads and disrupted bin collections.

Parts of north-east England, where an amber warning for snow has come into force, could see blizzard conditions, the Met Office said.

Sleet and snow showers continued to hit UK coasts overnight into Thursday with the worst-affected areas set to face disruption to travel and potential power cuts, according to the forecaster.

‘Thundersnow’, thunderstorms that form in wintry conditions and cause heavy downpours of snow, were seen in Aberdeenshire and off the coast in the north-east yesterday.

A spokesperson has said there is a risk ‘we could see more today off the coast of eastern Scotland and north-east England.’

As much as 25cm of snow could settle on high ground on the North York Moors and the surrounding area. The region’s amber warning remains in place until 9pm this evening.

Eight yellow weather warnings for snow and ice are in place in various other parts of the UK today, including Northern Scotland, South West Wales and Cornwall.