An ambulance overturned on a motorway after skidding on ice, leaving a four week old baby it was transporting critically ill.

The crash happened at the junction of the M62 and M621 at Gildersome at around 9am on Sunday 7 December. The ambulance was taking the infant from a hospital in Preston to one in Leeds for emergency specialist treatment as he was said to be seriously ill prior to the accident.

Also travelling in the ambulance were a doctor, nurse and paramedic team. All of whom escaped uninjured but were treated for shock. The parents of the child were travelling in a separate vehicle. A second ambulance arrived on the scene and took the baby to Leeds General Infirmary where his condition was described as “critical but stable”.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police confirmed that the icy condition on the road was a primary contributory factor to the accident. There had already been two crashes on that stretch of motorway earlier that morning. The first when a female driver of a Toyota Corolla was involved in an accident with a VW Passat, and the second when a Nissan Micra crashed into the central barrier.

Humberside Police are urging motorists to take extra care after receiving 31 reports of crashes in the space of a few hours on what was the coldest day of the year so far for most of the country.