Travel trouble continues (From The Oxford Times)

Travel trouble continues

8:17am Monday 21st December 2009

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The Christmas getaway nightmare is continuing as forecasters said the cold snap would continue.

Michael Dukes, forecast manager for MeteoGroup UK, the weather arm of the Press Association, said the cold snap was set to continue for the next few days in some parts of the country.

He said: "Snow showers are going to continue to threaten north-west England and much of Scotland. There will be a few snow showers across Wales."

He said the cold spell would continue into the middle of the week, with a chance of rain, sleet and snow in central and southern England.

Eurostar passenger trains were suspended for a third day today.

A Eurostar spokesman said engineers had identified the problem which left more than 2,000 passengers trapped in the Channel Tunnel overnight on Friday.

Modifications to its trains are due to be tested before any passengers services can resume.

"We now understand the cause of the disruption over the weekend and have identified the modifications that are required," he said.

Shields fitted to the trains to stop snow getting into the electrics had failed and needed to be improved, he said.

Eurostar's technical problems have added to disruption caused by snow and ice at airports and on Britain's roads.

Kent's roads have suffered icy conditions and heavy snow as well as a backlog of traffic caused by Friday night's closure of Eurotunnel and the temporary closure of Calais port due to bad weather in France.

Three people died in a road crash after a collision between a car and a pick-up truck on the A20 at Wrotham, Kent. Congestion on the county's roads began to ease after freight traffic was allowed to start crossing the Channel again.

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