It was only when they exited the motorway that the full extent of the bad weather became apparent to Robbie and Laura. The snow was coming down heavily now and was starting to settle on the darkening landscape, heavier on the higher ground and just starting to settle on the freezing slush of the roads and lower-lying areas.

Robbie drove carefully and was relieved to see the roads had been gritted. Even so, the conditions were bad and getting worse. Robbie knew if they could just head westward they could find one of the major routes, an A road that would take them towards Manchester. He prodded at the satnav on his dashboard, hoping to gain some clarification for the best way, while Laura checked her phone for any local weather updates.

The route Robbie took cut through fields and farmland, with hamlets and villages on the way. The snow wasn't as bad as they passed through some of the smaller towns and straggling conurbations but as they headed deeper into the Derbyshire Peaks the snow became heavier and had settled, several inches in some places. The road slowly climbed upwards through the farmland until the landscape started to change and became bleaker and windswept. The black branches of trees started to thicken with outlines of snow and the landscape was stippled with white. They reached a high moorland and were glad to see the road there had been gritted and the conditions were favourable. Perhaps it wasn't as bad as they had feared, Robbie thought, a little relieved to find the driving now a bit easier. They traversed the moor then dropped back down into one of the county's towns and found the snow calming a little, the traffic of the busy little town stopping any accumulation on the roads. Emboldened, Robbie drove on, still heading westwards and the road began to climb again and the route towards Staffordshire took them into the Peak District National Park.

Although the light was fading fast the landscape had become illuminated by the snowfall. They drove through small villages and farmland with sheep who looked oblivious to the snow in their fleeces. The fields were crisscrossed by stone walls and every now and again, rising up from the snowy fields were small groups of huge, majestic trees that seemed to silently watch the landscape around them.

"It's beautiful round here, isn't it?" Robbie said to Laura as they both looked out at the surrounding countryside.

"Yes, wonderful; these little villages and farmhouses are picturesque, although I can imagine it gets rather bleak up here if you're snowed in for the winter" She replied.

They drove on and passed through a small town called Cardale and she saw Robbie frowning a little as he looked about the town as they passed through.

"Have you been here before?" Laura felt compelled to ask, so puzzled was the look on his face

"No, never, but the place looks familiar somehow" he frowned again as the main street took them through the town and then back out into open country once more. "Maybe in another life" he said, glancing at Laura with a smile as they drove on.

After initially slowing, the snow began to fall heavily again. The route was now on a high plateau of fields and sheep pasture. Bare hawthorn trees, their leaves stripped by winter, looked black and stunted in the wind. Still the snow raced around the car. The flakes were small and seemingly endless. Robbie started to feel nervous again. The roads were starting to thicken with the snow as it settled. The road they were on didn't look gritted and Robbie began to regret not considering the route he had planned a bit more carefully. He could have taken a longer and lower route but the road they were now on would take them more quickly to the main A road they needed to get onto.

As they drove along the road the conditions worsened rapidly. Robbie cut his speed and this helped a little but the progress was slow. It was dark now and in the full beam of the car's headlights the snowflakes raced about and crashed onto the windscreen as they flew headlong into their path.

Laura began to feel a little uneasy. The snow was at least 4 inches deep and growing. They were high up and if anything were to happen she had already noted that there wasn't a signal on her mobile phone. Robbie was an excellent driver but she could tell he too was a little on edge at the conditions. She frowned and peered ahead, hoping that her focus on the road ahead offered some sort of solidarity for Robbie's concentration.

After about 20 minutes of slow and careful driving a battered snow-covered road sign came into view advising them of a turn-off ahead with the route down into Staffordshire. Robbie couldn't help but feel relief. Several times the car had skidded on the sleety surface of the road and he was thankful that the turnoff was now in sight.

His relief was short-lived.

The road was blocked with barriers and a reflective blue ROAD CLOSED sign shouted out at them through the snow and wind. In the road, just a few meters from the junction, was a huge chunk of gritstone. It was massive, at least the size of a car and in the ditch next to it was a flatbed truck, stuck at an awkward angle. It was clear that the huge monolith had slipped its tethering on the back of the truck. There was no-one there and Robbie ascertained that the incident must have been fairly recent but that the weather conditions had clearly halted any effort at recovery. A rock that big, probably destined for a landscaping project somewhere, would take some moving too. Even if Robbie's car had been a 4x4 there was no getting around the massive boulder.

"Right" said Robbie, hoping he sounded like he knew what to do. "I suppose we press on and hope we can get to another turn off"

"I suppose so" replied Laura. She was concerned but there really was no other option other than to keep moving. Robbie carefully set off, changing quickly from first into second, managing not to skid the wheels and they continued on up the road. The further they went the more Robbie began to worry about where he was taking them. The conditions were now verging on atrocious and even though they had no choice it felt like they were heading in the wrong direction. The wind howled loudly, whistling as it whipped by and snow flew at the car, the flurries swirling madly so that shapes, almost ghostly in effect, seemed to appear right in front of them out of the blizzard.

"The weather's getting bad, Robbie; I know you have your advanced driving certificate but it's pushing its luck" Laura said and Robbie heard an edge of panic in her voice.

"Yeah. It's not great." He said, frowning as he realised his words offered no reassurance. He glanced in the rear mirror at the scene behind him; they seemed to be the only car on the narrow lonely road, the surface of which was now completely covered with snow, it was coming down in force and settled fast almost growing before their eyes. Robbie could see from the porridge-like consistency that it was thickening on the road and, more alarmingly, at the sides of the road it had begun to drift.

Keeping in as high a gear as he dared, Robbie drove on. The car did well on the surface but Robbie didn't want to risk going any faster. The road was fairly straight but at one point there was a slight slope uphill. Robbie switched down a gear and tried to ease the throttle gently but the wheels skidded against the snow and the car engine revved as it tried to get traction. Not daring to take his foot off either the clutch or accelerator Robbie played them as best he could, switching gear quickly and managing to get purchase on the slippery uphill surface, there was a smell of not quite burning but of dry friction and Robbie grimaced again as he realised that the clutch was probably about to burn out. At the brow of the hill he let out a sigh of relief and glanced at Laura who had kept silent the whole time. She hated backseat driving and knew that Robbie needed to concentrate and besides, she had more faith in his skill than in her own advice. She was about to commend him on his driving skills when the car lost power and it stalled. With a lurch it jumped forward and began to slip on the icy surface. It wasn't a huge jump but the momentum gathered and increased as the road dipped into a slope. Robbie quickly tried to restart the engine whilst also negotiating the uncontrollable sliding of the car. The engine wouldn't start and he had no other option other than to steer into the skid as best he could. Gathering speed, the car almost raced down the incline of the road, the surface of which had been packed down by previous vehicles into what felt like a bobsleigh run.

"Hold on!" Shouted Robbie to Laura who was now starting to feel more than a little concerned as the car now slipped out of Robbie's control.

The car skidded at an angle and spun round as it headed down the incline of the road. It spun again, dancing in the swirling snow and gathered more speed. Robbie desperately tried to gain some control but it was futile.

"Sit back in your seat!" Robbie shouted as both he and Laura were rendered helpless as the car slipped with speed on the glassy surface of the road. Robbie looked ahead and shouted again "Sit back in your seat!" Instinctively he reached out his arm and placed it across Laura's body even though she had followed his plea and was bolt upright and sitting as far back into the seat as possible. Robbie was looking ahead, a look of panic on his face. Laura looked ahead now too and felt her stomach lurch with horror as she saw the car heading in one direction only; and in that direction, there was only one outcome.

The car was heading straight into the ditch.

I couldn't help the little reference to Peak Practice ;)