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3 December 2010
Last updated at 02:18 ET
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Travellers face more misery as airports, roads and rail continue to be badly hit
UK temperatures will be "much, much, colder" on Friday, BBC weather forecaster Laura Tobin has said.
Overnight, temperatures fell as low as -20C in Braemar, Aberdeenshire and -7C in Birmingham.
Gatwick Airport has reopened after two days of closure due to snow, but passengers are being warned to expect delays and cancellations.
Southern and Southeastern railways are operating revised timetables and trains in East Yorkshire are cancelled.
Snow showers have eased but the Met Office is now warning of widespread icy roads in south-west England.
Temperatures plunged to -16C at Aberdeen airport, -15C in Edinburgh, while both Manchester airport and Yeovil recorded -10C.
Areas such as Northern Ireland, western Scotland and north-west England are set to be the next affected by snow during the course of Friday.
Continue reading the main story In Humberside, heavy snowfall and icy conditions are causing problems on the roads and on public transport. At Brough in East Yorkshire, 23cm (9in) of snow fell overnight, blocking many roads.
The Independent Petrol Retailers Association claimed that up to 500 independent petrol retailers in Scotland and the east of England risked running out of petrol and diesel by the weekend. Filling stations in rural areas away from the main trunk roads were particularly vulnerable, it added.
The easing of snow showers meant Gatwick Airport reopened on Friday morning, although major delays and cancellations were expected to continue to cause headaches for travellers.
A statement on the airport's website said: "Our advice to passengers remains - do not travel to the airport without first checking with your airline to make sure that your flight is departing today.
"Passengers should expect delays and cancellations and it is likely to take a few days before flight schedules return to normal. Train services to and from the airport continue to be limited and road networks are likely to remain severely affected by the weather."
In other developments:
The government said that "challenging" road conditions were making it difficult to supply fuel to some areas - even though the refineries themselves were operating without major disruption.
The Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc) said that at Thursday lunchtime 70% of normal services were running and 58% of those were on time.
Mr Hammond said he had heard "far too many stories" of rail passengers being unable to obtain information about train services.
The transport secretary has written to the train companies to remind them of their responsibilities.
Schools closed An active search by mountain rescue team volunteers for missing fell walker Gwenda Merriot, 60, from Wiltshire, has ended, but posters are being put up and hotels and B&Bs are being contacted.
She was last seen in Ambleside in the Lake District on Wednesday morning and there has been heavy snowfall since then.
Some 1,200 schools were closed in Scotland on Thursday, representing 45% of the total number of schools.
Some children in the north-east missed out on lessons for a sixth day and about 250,000 Scottish pupils had the day off.
More than 4,000 schools were closed in England.
A total of 38cm (15in) of snow has fallen in Sheffield, the most recorded in December since records began in 1882.
Have you been stranded by the snow? Have your travel plans been disrupted by the weather? Send us your pictures and comments using the form below.
Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7725 100 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.
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Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.Travellers face more misery as airports, roads and rail continue to be badly hit
UK temperatures will be "much, much, colder" on Friday, BBC weather forecaster Laura Tobin has said.
Overnight, temperatures fell as low as -20C in Braemar, Aberdeenshire and -7C in Birmingham.
Gatwick Airport has reopened after two days of closure due to snow, but passengers are being warned to expect delays and cancellations.
Southern and Southeastern railways are operating revised timetables and trains in East Yorkshire are cancelled.
Snow showers have eased but the Met Office is now warning of widespread icy roads in south-west England.
Temperatures plunged to -16C at Aberdeen airport, -15C in Edinburgh, while both Manchester airport and Yeovil recorded -10C.
Areas such as Northern Ireland, western Scotland and north-west England are set to be the next affected by snow during the course of Friday.
Continue reading the main story In Humberside, heavy snowfall and icy conditions are causing problems on the roads and on public transport. At Brough in East Yorkshire, 23cm (9in) of snow fell overnight, blocking many roads.
The Independent Petrol Retailers Association claimed that up to 500 independent petrol retailers in Scotland and the east of England risked running out of petrol and diesel by the weekend. Filling stations in rural areas away from the main trunk roads were particularly vulnerable, it added.
The easing of snow showers meant Gatwick Airport reopened on Friday morning, although major delays and cancellations were expected to continue to cause headaches for travellers.
A statement on the airport's website said: "Our advice to passengers remains - do not travel to the airport without first checking with your airline to make sure that your flight is departing today.
"Passengers should expect delays and cancellations and it is likely to take a few days before flight schedules return to normal. Train services to and from the airport continue to be limited and road networks are likely to remain severely affected by the weather."
In other developments:
- Southern trains, which operates in south London and between central London and the south coast, said it would be operating a revised timetable on Friday
- Southeastern trains, which runs out of London Victoria and Charing Cross, said it was operating an extremely limited number of services from an emergency timetable
- National Rail Enquiries has set up a hotline for information about snow-related disruption on 08453 017 641, and also has updates at @nationalrailenq on Twitter
- Police forces in Kent and Surrey continued to advise drivers to only travel if necessary as the low temperatures turned snow into ice
- Eurostar said its timetable would be significantly reduced, with cancellations and delays, until Sunday
- Bournemouth airport will be closed until at least 0800 GMT on Friday
- No trains are running between Cleethorpes and Doncaster, Lincoln and Grimsby and between Lincoln and Doncaster. The line from Bridlington to Scarborough is still blocked.
- Humberside airport closed until 0730 GMT. Flights at Robin Hood Airports cancelled until at least noon on Friday.
The government said that "challenging" road conditions were making it difficult to supply fuel to some areas - even though the refineries themselves were operating without major disruption.
The Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc) said that at Thursday lunchtime 70% of normal services were running and 58% of those were on time.
Mr Hammond said he had heard "far too many stories" of rail passengers being unable to obtain information about train services.
The transport secretary has written to the train companies to remind them of their responsibilities.
Schools closed An active search by mountain rescue team volunteers for missing fell walker Gwenda Merriot, 60, from Wiltshire, has ended, but posters are being put up and hotels and B&Bs are being contacted.
She was last seen in Ambleside in the Lake District on Wednesday morning and there has been heavy snowfall since then.
Some 1,200 schools were closed in Scotland on Thursday, representing 45% of the total number of schools.
Some children in the north-east missed out on lessons for a sixth day and about 250,000 Scottish pupils had the day off.
More than 4,000 schools were closed in England.
A total of 38cm (15in) of snow has fallen in Sheffield, the most recorded in December since records began in 1882.
Have you been stranded by the snow? Have your travel plans been disrupted by the weather? Send us your pictures and comments using the form below.
Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7725 100 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.
Read the terms and conditions
Powered by WizardRSS | Best Membership Site Software