Snow havoc in UK - more to come

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UK SNOW: A girl walks across Westminster Bridge during snow fall in London. Blizzards swept across central and southern England, bringing more road and rail chaos.

FUN IN THE SNOW: A child climbs a hill while sledging in the snow in London.

WINTER WONDERLAND: Snow blankets roads, cars and houses in Carrbrook, Cheshire, in the North West of England.

CLEARING A PATH: A man clears snow from his car in West Lothian, Scotland. Freezing conditions and heavy snowfall brought chaos to the transport network, shutting airports and disrupting train services.

FEELING FOXY: A fox sits on frozen ground at Standford-le-Hope near Thurrock in southeast England.

GOING NOWHERE: A car sits abandoned at the side of a snow covered road near Livingston in West Lothian, Scotland.

HOLDING ON: Two girls walk on frozen flood waters in the Port Meadow area of Oxford in southern England.

DIGGING OUT: A man shovels snow from a driveway near Manchester in northern England.

SNOW IN SCOTLAND: A man clears snow from the paths outside his house in Wilkieston in West Lothian, Scotland.

SNOW AND ICE: A shopkeeper smashes ice from her shop front in Longridge, West Lothian, Scotland.

OH DEER: Deer graze in the cold weather in Richmond Park near London.

WINTER WEATHER: A man clears snow in front of his property in Wilkieston in West Lothian, Scotland. Freezing conditions and heavy snowfall brought chaos to the transport network.

STANDSTILL: A tractor with a snow plough attached, clears snow between parked aircraft at Manchester Airport, northern England. Freezing conditions and heavy snowfall brought more chaos to the transport network on Tuesday.

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Europe endures deeper freeze, snow

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Snow in the UK Europe endures deeper freeze, snow

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Very heavy snowfall is predicted in southern England after freezing conditions brought more chaos to the transport network on Tuesday, shutting airports and disrupting train services.

The Met Office said temperatures fell to as low as minus 15C overnight and warned that as much as 40cm of snow could fall in some areas as the weather front spreads south.

Hundreds of schools were shut, travellers faced air, rail and road delays, and even venerable soap opera Coronation Street was disrupted on Tuesday as snow and icy weather swept the country

A driver was killed when two trucks collided on a highway near Manchester in northwest England, and scores of accidents were reported on icy roads. Automobile support service RAC said it was dealing with 1400 incidents an hour.

Up to 30 centimetres of snow was forecast in some parts of the country as the bad weather moved south from Scotland.

The Met Office said even more heavy snowfall was expected further south and in London later on Tuesday and on Wednesday, with Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire predicted to be worst hit.

"A period of exceptionally heavy snowfall is expected with accumulations of 15-30cm and perhaps in excess of 40cm," the Met Office said.

"This is expected to cause widespread disruption to the transport network and could lead to problems with power supplies."

Manchester Airport was closed until 1pm because of heavy snow, and flights were being cancelled at Leeds Bradford, Liverpool and Glasgow Airports.

Sports and entertainment also felt the impact. Police in northwest England postponed the football match between Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa due to severe snow.

Filming at the Manchester studios of Coronation Street was suspended after cast and crew members were kept away by the snow.

Many train services across Britain suffered cancellations and delays with severely reduced services on the East Coast mainline from Scotland and northern England to London.

Motorists were advised to take care if they had to travel, and the Highways Agency said "continuous salt treatment" was being carried out at high-risk areas.

The AA said it expected Monday to have been its busiest day ever for breakdowns with 25,000 call-outs.

High demand for gas prompted Britain's network operator National Grid on Monday to warn consumption may have to be cut, which encouraged producers to increase flows into Britain.

The Met Office has said it expected the freezing conditions - caused by winds coming from the north and east instead of the more usual west and southwest - to continue into late January after one of the chilliest Decembers on record.

- Reuters