Snow continues to cause disruption on Britain’s roads today, and there’s more to come.
Four out of ten workers have had to stay at home today due to heavy overnight snowfall has brought the nation’s transport network to a grinding halt.
The big freeze has brought with it scores of cancelled railway services, the closure of four airports and chaos on the roads, and with heavy snow warning issued for Thursday night, travel problems could increase.
What started off as a bit of festive fun is now expected to cost the economy millions as 38 per cent of staff were unable to get to work and a further 43 per cent were late arriving.
One of the worst hit areas was Kent where over 6 inches of snow fell overnight and caused chaos on the railways. Many of the services were cancelled, leaving commuters with no way of getting into the capital.
Some of the commuters who managed to get aboard a train in West Sussex didn’t have much luck either, as they were forced to spend the night on the train as it became stuck. The heavy snow caused a series of line failures and with forecasters predicting up to another eight inches across the east of England today, things aren’t looking good for the Friday morning commute.
Tens of thousands of passengers due to fly out of Gatwick and Edinburgh today also saw their travel plans in tatters as the airports closed for a second day
With Gatwick closed until at least 6am on Friday, a spokesman said: 'We are doing everything we can to resume operations, however conditions have deteriorated considerably.
'Our teams are working around the clock to make the runway safe for aircraft to use and get our airlines and passengers flying again.'
Heavy snow warnings have also been issued in England for the North-East, Yorkshire and Humber, London and the South-East and the South-West.
Snow warnings also apply in Scotland to Grampian, Strathclyde, Central, Tayside and Fife, and South West, Lothian and Borders.
Hundreds of thousands of school children were rejoicing after schools across the country were closed for a second day.
With millions caught up in the chaos, questions were today mounting over the failure to treat the roads despite councils and the Highways Agency boasting they were prepared.
And forecasters warned of the big freeze tightening its grip for the rest of the week, with more snow on the way and temperatures expected to plunge as low as -25C.
On Tuesday the Highways Agency said it was ‘confident that the strategic road network’ would stay open.
‘We have 230,000 tons of salt and our fleet of 500 salt spreaders are operating day and night to keep the motorways and major A-roads open,’ said spokesman Mark Powell.
But yesterday the M25, M20, M23, M2, M3, M1, A1, A66, and A69 were among the vital motorways and trunk roads closed for all or part of the day.
As the chaos worsened, councils suggested it was the Government’s cuts which were to blame.
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