More chaos as big freeze goes on

Queuing traffic on the M20 in KentDrivers on the motorways in south-east England particularly suffered on Tuesday
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Further snow and freezing temperatures are set to hit many parts of the UK as the cold snap shows no sign of abating.

There are warnings of icy roads across the country, while further snow showers of up to 15cm could affect some areas.

The Met Office has issued heavy snow warnings for Yorkshire and Humber, east Midlands, east and north-east England, London and south-east England.

Further heavy snow is forecast in eastern Scotland, where hundreds of schools are expected to stay shut.

BBC broadcast meteorologist Liam Dutton said up to 10cm of snow could fall in East Anglia and south-east England, with up to 15cm possible in north-east England and south-east Scotland.

“Temperatures will be barely above freezing across the UK and when you add in the effect of the wind chill it will feel much, much, colder than that,” he said.

Overnight, temperatures hit a low of -20 in Altnaharra, in the Highlands.

However, south-west England, Wales, western Scotland and Northern Ireland should enjoy sunny spells.

On Tuesday, commuters worked from home, thousands of children could not go to school and motorists faced travel chaos as a number of roads were impassable. The disruption includes:

A snow plough delivering grit in the Scottish Highlands slips and overturnsAlan Whiteford sent us this picture of a snow plough which overturned in the Scottish Highlands

Severe disruption for air passengers at Gatwick Airport where its runways are closed. Edinburgh Airport is also closed. Passengers are advised to check with their airline.The M25 in Essex is blocked with heavy traffic anticlockwise between J30, A13 (Lakeside) and J29, A127 (Romford), because of a jackknifed lorrySurrey Police advise motorists to avoid the clockwise section of M25 between junction six and eight and the anticlockwise section between junctions nine and seven due to congestion which had built up overnight due to the snowfall and freezing conditionsIn North Yorkshire, the A169 is shut in the Whitby area because of drifting snow.In Cumbria, the A592 Kirkstone Pass is closed between the Troutbeck junction and the Hartsop junction, because of snow. One lane remains closed on the A66 between A6108 and A685 junctions. The A686 Hartside Pass Langwathby is also closedPassengers trying to travel from Newark to Lincoln faced a night sleeping on the station after all connecting road and rail services cancelled.In Scotland at least six councils are planning to close schools for a third day

Drivers were stuck on the A2 near the M25 in Kent on Tuesday evening. Truck driver Nigel Waller, who was on his way to Bradford, told the BBC at 0100 GMT that traffic was slowly starting to move.

“I’m doing 15 miles an hour which is the fastest I have driven in hours. I have been stuck since 1730 GMT,” he said.

“I haven’t seen any gritters and it’s getting slippery because it’s freezing and there’s slush. I saw a truck trying to overtake a broken down car – he went straight through the central reservation.”

Motoring organisation, the AA, said it received an average of 1,350 calls an hour on Tuesday. The RAC said callouts to breakdowns peaked at 2,000 an hour.

The Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc) said around 73% of trains were arriving on time on Tuesday evening.

The Local Government Association said councils had increased stockpiles of salt and grit.

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UK forecast for 01/12/2010

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Temperature (°C) Temperature range chart

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