Weather disruption in Britain

It's never taken much to cause major disruption in Britain. However, this has come on the heel of major flooding, warmer weather and spring blossom arriving months too early. This weather is forecast to stay around for a month.

Heavy snow causes travel disruption across Britain

Heavy snow fell across much of Britain today, causing travel disruption on roads, railways and at airports.

The Telegraph,

14 January, 2013

Thousands of motorists had to be rescued after breaking down, with the AA reporting a further 23 call-outs to cars stuck in the snow, weather-related speed restrictions were imposed in East Anglia, and more than 30 flights were cancelled out of Heathrow Airport.

Forecasters said eastern parts of the country could experience a further 10cm (4ins) of snow throughout the rest of the day and warned that freezing conditions overnight could cause serious problems with icy roads tomorrow.

The Met Office upgraded its "cold weather action" warning to level three - one underneath a national emergency - for all of England, urging social and healthcare services to target specific actions at vulnerable people.

A number of yellow and amber warnings were also put in place across the country to highlight the hazardous conditions and likelihood of disruption to travel services caused by the ice, snow and freezing temperatures.

A serious crash involving at least 10 vehicles caused massive delays on the M4 across the Berkshire Downs, which was blanketed by snow and freezing rain this morning.

The London-bound carriageway between Membury Services near Lambourn and junction 14 is the same stretch which saw Britain's worst-ever motorway tragedy in March 1991, when 10 people died and dozens were injured in a 51-vehicle pile-up in dense fog which saw many of the cars, lorries and coaches burnt out in a fireball.

Four lorries were also stuck fast and unable to gain traction in snow on a hill

There were also major delays for drivers on one of Britain’s busiest motorways when an accident shut the M1 for an hour-and-a-half in both directions at junction 34 around Sheffield.

South Yorkshire Police said the incident, in which a pedestrian was serious injured after being hit by a vehicle on the northbound carriageway, was not thought to be weather-related.

The AA dealt with up to 1,750 calls an hour from stranded motorists, and said it was expecting to attend more than 16,000 breakdowns today, compared to around 10,500 on an average Monday.

Some 31 flights out of Heathrow were cancelled today, although the airport stressed that they were not all weather-related.

British Airways said it experienced “difficult” conditions at a number of European and UK airports, leading it to cancel 12 scheduled short-haul services from Heathrow to domestic and European destinations.

The snow led to speed restrictions being imposed on Greater Anglia trains between London Liverpool Street and Cambridge, Colchester, Ipswich and Norwich, causing delays of up to 30 minutes and possible cancellations in the late afternoon and early evening.

Meteorologists said another band of snow was sweeping down from Yorkshire into East Anglia this afternoon.

There was more snow to follow in south-eastern England this evening and overnight, and there could even be 2 to 4cm (0.8 to 1.6ins) over parts of Greater London by tomorrow morning.

The rest of the UK is expected to experience rain and sleet showers overnight, which coupled with sub-zero temperatures could lead to icy conditions tomorrow.

Temperatures are expected to drop further to around -8C (17.6F) on Wednesday night, with the possibility of more light snow flurries.

Eddy Carroll, the Met Office’s chief forecaster, said: “We expect snow to affect many eastern parts of the UK over the next day or so leading to some disruption.

“With some very low temperatures over the next few nights we also expect ice in many places and people should be prepared for travel problems.”

Jeremy Clarkson, the Top Gear presenter, joked on Twitter about the UK’s traditional tendency to over-react to cold weather.

“People of the world. Stay away from Britain. It is locked in ice chaos. On high ground, the snow is 2cm deep. Authorities are losing control,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, public-spirited postmen and milkmen have been asked to help keep an eye on the elderly and vulnerable during the cold snap.

The Local Government Association said "all community-spirited residents" were being urged to help support council workers and spot if their neighbours are in danger.

Sub-zero temperatures expected over the next week and increased heating bills mean there are concerns that the number of deaths this winter could top the 24,000 in the relatively mild 2011-2012 winter, it said.

The cold snap could be bad news for those already struggling to pay their energy bills which have more than doubled since 2004 to more than £1,300 a year per household, largely due to rising gas prices.

Save the Children's head of UK policy, Chris Wellings, said: "The poorest families will struggle to cope with this cold snap. Parents on low incomes are already struggling to afford even basic essentials such as warm winter clothing and a hot meal every day for their children as living costs continue to rise.

"As temperatures plummet many simply don't have the money to heat their homes. The Government must ensure that the poorest families can afford to keep warm."