Worst snow to hit Britain in 18 years

Thousands of people are enduring a nightmare journey home after the heaviest snowfall to hit the UK in 18 years caused travel chaos.


A snow plough clears the snow from the A66 near Bowes

Snow ploughs and gritters will be working non-stop in the next 24 hours

Snow is continuing to fall during the evening rush hour - on top of the 8ins (20cm) overnight that brought large parts of the country to a halt.

Motorists have been warned that disruption on the roads is likely to continue well into the night.

The Highways Agency is advising people to travel only when absolutely necessary.

More than six million people are estimated to have stayed home from work because of the weather and more than 2,000 schools were closed.

It is thought many schools will be closed again on Tuesday.
Air, rail and road services have all also been severely disrupted.
Major airports closed runways with hundreds of flights from Heathrow Airport cancelled.
However, around 100 out of 700 London bus routes are now running a limited service.
Services are on hold in east Sussex for safety reasons.
There are still severe delays on the London Underground. The Northern line, Victoria and Waterloo and City are operating. All others are partly or fully suspended.
There are also major delays on London Overground routes.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the authorities were doing "everything in our power" to get the country moving .
And London Mayor Boris Johnson suspended the congestion charge for the day "as a gesture of my appreciation for those who have travelled to work".


A man makes an armchair out of snow in front of The Houses Of Parliament

There is little sign of conditions improving though.

Sky News weather presenter Lucy Verasamy said: "It will get worse before it gets better."

She expects heavy snow in the South East to move northwards into the rest of eastern England before speading to Scotland, parts of Ireland and the South West.

Low temperatures overnight mean the snow in the east is not expected to melt, causing frost and black ice by dawn, Verasamy said. "The South East will turn drier and calmer tomorrow but temperatures will plunge and driving conditions will be treacherous," she warned.

"Scotland will get snow, as will parts of Ireland and the South West. There will be sleet and rain in the South West on coastal areas and some snow inland. The rest of the week is looking very wintry with further sleet and snow to come."

I was watching it on sky news. Looks terrible on the roads. I'll stop moaning about our rain.

I was really tempted to go and buy a snowplough today! Just so I could be King of the roads.....pity I can't drive I s'pose....

eddie wrote:I was really tempted to go and buy a snowplough today! Just so I could be King of the roads.....pity I can't drive I s'pose....

Go down to your local depot. They might let you have a go on a gritter !!!

justagrannynow wrote:

eddie wrote:I was really tempted to go and buy a snowplough today! Just so I could be King of the roads.....pity I can't drive I s'pose....

Go down to your local depot. They might let you have a go on a gritter !!!

Will they???!!! Reallly????

I want snow. It's snowing on and off all day but it's not heavy enough to stick.

eddie wrote:

justagrannynow wrote:

eddie wrote:I was really tempted to go and buy a snowplough today! Just so I could be King of the roads.....pity I can't drive I s'pose....

Go down to your local depot. They might let you have a go on a gritter !!!

Will they???!!! Reallly????

Well if I was the manager of the depot eddie, I would.

Yay we have snow. It's -2 and the whole place is like a picture postcard.

Antoinette wrote:Yay we have snow. It's -2 and the whole place is like a picture postcard.

Its okay Antoinette... till it goes to grey slush. I agree though its very pretty at the moment.

Krisy22 wrote:

Antoinette wrote:Yay we have snow. It's -2 and the whole place is like a picture postcard.

Its okay Antoinette... till it goes to grey slush. I agree though its very pretty at the moment.

I want some...i went to bed, and the snow was falling quite heavy... woke up this morning ,to the sun shinning and not abit of snow in sight!

justagrannynow wrote:

eddie wrote:

justagrannynow wrote:

eddie wrote:I was really tempted to go and buy a snowplough today! Just so I could be King of the roads.....pity I can't drive I s'pose....

Go down to your local depot. They might let you have a go on a gritter !!!

Will they???!!! Reallly????

Well if I was the manager of the depot eddie, I would.

See Gran, that's why you and I get on so well