Black ice Monday: UK weather chaos leaves thousands stranded
Snow and icy conditions halt travel services, shut schools and leave homes without power

A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Wintry conditions have caused chaos across the UK as heavy snow results in flight and train delays, icy roads and school closures, and leaves thousands of homes without power.
At least 50,000 passengers were stranded at Heathrow Airport yesterday, after “torrential overnight rain meant that de-icing could not begin until the first wave of planes were ready to go”, reports The Independent’s travel correspondent Simon Calder.
British Airways cancelled a further 70 short-haul round trips today, along with nine long-haul flights including departures to Rio De Janeiro, Tokyo and Los Angeles. That’s in addition to more than 140 outbound short-haul flights and 26 long-haul BA departures cancelled from Heathrow on Sunday. Delays and cancellations were also expected at Birmingham Airport.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Meanwhile, hundreds of schools across England and Wales were closed today as the wintry conditions persist. The Government has set up a postcode finder for parents to check if their child’s school is still open.
“Efforts have continued overnight to reconnect power to thousands of homes cut off after snow and high winds affected supplies,” adds the BBC.
Almost 3,000 customers of Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks spent a night without electricity, “but the company has restored power to 48,000 households”, says The Guardian. The worst-hit areas were Oxfordshire, where 800 homes are without power, Wiltshire and parts of Berkshire.
Temperatures have fallen to lows of -1C in built-up areas, and to -10C in more rural areas. A Met Office yellow severe weather warning for ice remained in place for large parts of the UK until about 11am. A yellow warning means that you should “plan ahead thinking about possible travel delays, or the disruption of your day to day activities”.
In Calais, hundreds of Eurotunnel passengers faced a series of delays on services to the UK yesterday. The shuttle service operator said the wait was five hours, but some social media users claimed to have waited much longer. Eurotunnel says services are back to normal today, although weather conditions remain “very challenging”.
Motorists are “being warned of havoc on the roads”, says The Guardian, as snow turns to black ice after the weekend’s wintry blast. Pete Williams, the RAC’s road safety spokesman, said the motorists’ service was expecting 11,000 breakdowns on Monday, 20% above the seasonal norm.
“I think the big thing is people are not going to leave enough time,” he said. “Journeys will take two to three times longer. It’s going to be treacherous driving conditions.”
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
10 things you need to know today: September 26, 2023
Daily Briefing Congress returns to work with shutdown looming, Ukraine says it killed Russia's Black Sea Fleet commander, and more
By Harold Maass Published
-
Why the Roman Empire is suddenly everywhere online
The Explainer It fell more than 1,500 years ago — so why is it dominating social media?
By Justin Klawans Published
-
How climate change is going to change the insurance industry
The Explainer Some regions will soon be 'uninsurable'
By Devika Rao Published
-
Couple fined over loud sex in hotel
feature And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
Border Force strike may see airports close this Christmas
Speed Read More than 10,000 flights are expected to land at the affected airports over strike days
By Jamie Timson Published
-
Three children dead after plunging into frozen Solihull lake
Speed Read Search continues for unconfirmed number of other children, with rescue ‘now a recovery operation’
By The Week Staff Published
-
Looming cold snap fuels fears of UK power cuts
Speed Read Drop in temperatures in coming days may be ‘first piece of grim jigsaw’
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
Studio offers to remove Kanye West tattoos for free
feature And other stories from the stranger side of life
By The Week Staff Published
-
Who owns Qatar and what does the Gulf state own?
feature The World Cup host’s Sovereign wealth fund has £40bn of investments in UK alone
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
Reader favourites
Speed Read A selection of short but sweet features from across The Week magazine
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Home Office worker accused of spiking mistress’s drink with abortion drug
Speed Read Darren Burke had failed to convince his girlfriend to terminate pregnancy
By The Week Staff Published