More travel chaos as snow freezes (From The Oxford Times)

More travel chaos as snow freezes

8:40am Tuesday 22nd December 2009 in News

The Christmas travel nightmare is grinding on with more snow and ice causing havoc on the roads and further disruption for rail and air services.

Plunging overnight temperatures have transformed many of Monday's snowfalls into treacherous surfaces, with the Met Office warning of "widespread icy roads" for most of England and Wales as well as more snowfalls for the southern half of the country.

Travellers also face another raft of train and flight cancellations and delays, although several airports have reopened their runways and Channel Tunnel high-speed Eurostar trains are resuming a restricted service after three days of suspension caused by "fluffy snow".

Monday's heavy snowfalls left many roads in the Home Counties gridlocked, with London and the South East worst hit for vehicle breakdowns.

The AA reported one of its busiest days on record, dealing with more than 20,000 breakdowns by the end of the night - more than twice the normal level.

A broken-down lorry on the Oxford-bound A40 between Cassington and Oxford today led to long delays for rush-hour drivers as police directed traffic.

Snow and ice was reported on roads around Charlton-on-Otmoor today and as a result, bus routes 499 and 508 will not be serving Charlton.

Thames Valley Police today advised:

• Unless it is absolutely essential you are strongly advised not to travel
• Please do not abandon your vehicles on the highway, this prevents emergency services and gritting vehicles getting through
• Many local authorities are waiving car parking fees for motorists who have experienced difficulties and become stranded due to the weather conditions, please leave your contact details on view inside the vehicle
• Emergency calls for police, fire and ambulance services should be made in genuine emergency situations only.

  Temperatures were predicted to fall to zero (32F) in central London overnight, minus 4C (25F) in Newcastle, minus 4C in Glasgow, the same in Manchester and minus 2C (28F) in Cardiff. In parts of northern England they could reach as low as minus 9C (16F), and minus 13C (9F) in the Highlands of Scotland.

Budget airline easyJet said the hangover from Monday's bad weather would see scores of flights cancelled from Luton, Gatwick, Stansted, Glasgow and Edinburgh airports.

British Airways cancelled all UK and European flights departing after 7pm on Monday, and is "strongly" advising passengers to check their flight status before setting off.

Staff at Gatwick are working to clear a backlog after reopening the runway on Monday night, while Aberdeen, Luton and Southampton were also working to resume flight operations but warning travellers of continued delays.

Manchester airport - where passengers had to endure long waits just to reach the check-in desk - gave out food, water and blankets overnight to people stranded by delays