Press Association
Britain is facing one of the coldest winters in 100 years with conditions causing "widespread, persistent and severe" problems this week, forecasters warned.
With up to 4ins of snow due to fall in parts of the country today, heavier deluges are predicted to hit many others later this week causing transport chaos on roads, trains and at airports.
MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said up to 15cm of snow could end up lying over "wide areas" by Friday, with the south experiencing "significant or even major difficulties to infrastructures, particularly transport".
Temperatures fell as low as minus 10C (14F) across southern England overnight, with no end in sight to the freezing weather.
Stephen Davenport, senior meteorologist at MeteoGroup, said: "This is stretching the limits of short to medium term forecasting but so entrenched is this cold-weather pattern that it seems only a major upheaval in the atmosphere will bring a return to something milder.
"Should conditions continue in a similar vein then by March we might just be looking back at one of the coldest winters of the last 100 years".
He added: "There are more immediate concerns in the shape of a very snowy spell this week.
"Heavy snow showers or more widespread snow will continue to move across northern and eastern areas of Britain, bringing further accumulations of several centimetres in places and causing notable disruptions to transportation.
"And the highly-populated south is likely to see snow that will at times be widespread, persistent and severe enough to bring significant or even major difficulties to infrastructures, particularly transport.
"By Friday or even sooner there will be several centimetres of snow lying over wide areas, to depths of five to 10, or even 15, centimetres. In a few ill-favoured areas the persistence and heaviness of the snow could bring accumulations well in excess of 20 centimetres".
Today a band of snow will move down from Scotland bringing showers to northern England, northern Wales and possibly Northern Ireland.
By mid-afternoon it will have reached the south east and by the evening there could be disruptive snowfall in the south, the south Midlands and south Wales.
The Met Office warned of heavy snow in the Scottish highlands, Wales, northern England and the Midlands.
Temperatures will barely top freezing during the day, with London set to be the warmest at 3C (37F). Manchester could possibly touch 1C (34F), Glasgow will hover around 0C (32F) and Cardiff 2C (36C).
Grit stocks in England are holding up according to the Highways Agency, but Fife council in Scotland had to have several hundred tonnes of salt and grit delivered by the Scottish government after supplies ran low.
Ten train services between London and Leeds on the East Coast Main Line were cancelled today.
Several London to Glasgow services on the line were also stopping at Edinburgh, with a number of others affected.
The line operator said it would be operating a revised timetable today due to the adverse weather conditions.
Budget airline easyJet cancelled a number of flights on its European network, including two between Luton and Milan.
Manchester Airport said it had closed due to heavy snow. Passengers are being urged to check their flight status with the airline. A spokesman said it was unlikely to reopen before 12pm due to continuing snowfall.
He said: "A significant amount of snow has fallen overnight and continues to fall at the airport and across Greater Manchester. The forecasts show that the situation is unlikely to clear before 12pm so operations will remain suspended until then at Manchester Airport.
"We have taken this decision as we want to ensure that safety is maintained on the airfield for our airlines and passengers. A further decision about snow clearance on the airfield will be taken at that time taking into account the weather forecasts for the rest of the day".
Meanwhile, Greater Manchester Police asked the public to only call 999 in an emergency where there is a threat to life or a crime in progress.
Superintendent Karan Lee said: "I would like to reassure the public that we will attend all emergencies. However, our response vehicles could also be hindered by the adverse weather conditions and it may take us a little longer to get to you.
"I would also ask that you seriously consider the need to contact the emergency services before dialling 999, ensuring that we can focus on the people who need us the most".
Police also advised people to only travel if their journey was absolutely necessary.
Leeds Bradford International Airport was also experiencing delays to flights today.
Glasgow Airport said it was open, but heavy snow and icy conditions across the UK would result in delays and cancellations.
Passengers flying out of Gatwick were experiencing problems this morning, with a "small number" of cancellations, an airport spokeswoman said.
She said: "There have been eight flight cancellations, and one arrival has been delayed, because of the cold weather. We have also had some diversions from Manchester arriving at the airport.
Liverpool's John Lennon Airport closed for about four hours at 5.30 this morning after heavy snowfall which started at about 5.15am.
In Scotland, heavy snow overnight forced councils to shut schools around the country. All schools in Aberdeenshire, Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders were closed today, as were those in the Western Isles.
The Met Office issued severe weather warnings for the whole of Scotland, warning of widespread icy roads around the country, and heavy and drifting snow in some areas. Snow fell across the country last night and temperatures dropped to minus 11C (12.2F) at Dalwhinnie.
In North Yorkshire, around 140 schools were closed today due to the adverse weather.
The Independent
