A man has died after he was involved in a serious collision on the Queen Elizabeth II Highway near Airdrie and RCMP are dealing with a number of other crashes on the roadway due to deteriorating conditions.

Police say travel is not recommended on the highway between the city limits and Didsbury until further notice and issued a travel warning on Wednesday morning.

RCMP and emergency crews were called to the scene of a serious crash just north of Airdrie that happened just after 10:30 a.m.

Police say a pickup truck was northbound on the QEII when the driver lost control and crossed into the southbound lanes.

The truck then collided with a semi tractor-trailer unit.

The 35-year-old male driver of the pickup from Calgary was rushed to hospital in critical condition and has since died from his injuries

Police shut the highway down to one northbound and one southbound lane to investigate.

All lanes were reopened at about 2:00 p.m. but police say there are slippery sections and they are advising motorists to drive to conditions.

"We do think that weather may have been a factor in all the crashes today. The roads get unexpectedly icy and slippery and you have to really be careful, be extra vigilant to give yourself that extra time," said RCMP Corporal Darrin Turnbull.

AMA Road Reports says the highway through to Bowden is covered in black ice and motorists are advised to slow down and give road crews space to work.

"It's been non-stop all morning for all of our trucks, can't really seem to keep up so it's been one of those days," said Dave Reinhardt from Res-Q Towing in Didsbury. "People need to be slowing down and they're not and it's causing a lot of grief and havoc."

The QEII Highway north of Red Deer is also in poor condition and a number of crashes have been reported.

A snowfall warning has been issued for parts of central Alberta and Environment Canada says the area could get between 10 and 15 cm of snow by Thursday morning.

For more information, visit the AMA Road Reports website.