UK weather: snow travel chaos leaves hundreds stranded

Snow and ice have caused havoc on the UK’s roads and rail networks overnight and this morning.

The Met Office has put an amber weather warning in place for parts of southeast England, amid plunging temperatures and widespread snowfall. A less severe yellow warning has also been issued for the east coast, most of the south of England and Wales, and Scotland.

Temperatures have plunged to as low as -15.4C, recorded in Braemar in Aberdeenshire - “only slightly higher than the low of -15.6C set in 2010”, reports Sky News.

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Further snowfall is expected in the coming hours, with the Met Office warning that “there is a good chance that some rural communities could become cut off”, and that power cuts are “likely”.

More than 400 schools “have been closed in Wales, with more closed in areas of England including Cornwall”, says the BBC.

Great Western Railway has said that services may be disrupted until around 1pm, while Transport for Wales expects problems on some routes until 2pm.

Overnight snowfall saw more than 100 people forced to seek shelter at a pub in Cornwall after their cars became stuck on the A30.

Sammy Wheeler, who runs the Jamaica Inn pub, told the BBC that some of those who spent the night had walked “a good three, four or five miles” through the snow after getting stranded.

“People were incredibly high spirited,” Wheeler said. “We kept the kitchen open all night and people were playing games in the bar until the early hours in the morning.”

Airports have also been affected, as British Airways “cancelled or merged a number of short-haul flights from Heathrow Airport because of the adverse weather conditions”, reports The Daily Telegraph.

The airline is urging customers to check their flight status for cancellations.

“Safety is always our priority, and we’re working hard to keep our operation moving. We’re sorry that some of our services are being delayed by the weather conditions,” said a BA spokesperson.

Flights to and from Bristol Airport were also suspended until 12pm today.