Snow and ice blanket Britain

Arizona Herald (IANS) Sunday 5th February, 2012

Heavy overnight snow in Britain severely disrupted road, rail and air travel Sunday, The Telegraph reported.

Drivers were forced to spend the night in their cars as the snow brought traffic to a standstill on the M25, while Heathrow Airport cancelled a third of its flights.

The big freeze brought snowfalls of up to 16 cm, with forecasters warning it would linger on the ground in some areas and temperatures would remain low this week.

Snow fell over Scotland, northern England and the Midlands Saturday before moving down to London and East Anglia.

The flights at Heathrow Airport were axed because of the snow and the possibility of freezing fog. A Heathrow spokesman said: "We have about 850 of our usual 1,231 flights scheduled for today (Sunday).

"That's been agreed with the airlines, but we are asking people to check with their airlines before travelling to the airport."

A full schedule of flights is planned for Gatwick Airport, but passengers were warned of possible disruptions because of the weather.

Stansted, Birmingham and Luton airports were forced to suspend operations for a period last night as snow piled up on the runways, but operations resumed Sunday with some delays, Telegraph said.

Rail services were also affected. Southern Railway said trains were subject to delay and cancellation, with journey times extended by up to 30 minutes.