Robert Hall takes to the skies to survey the extent of the disruption
Travellers face continuing disruption due to severe weather across the UK.
Gatwick Airport has reopened after two days of closure due to snow, but passengers are being warned to expect delays and cancellations.
There are continuing problems on trains, with Southern and Southeastern railways operating revised timetables and trains in East Yorkshire cancelled.
Snow showers have eased but the Met Office is now warning of widespread icy roads in south-west England.
BBC weather forecaster Laura Tobin said it would be much, much, colder across much more of Britain on Friday.
Overnight, temperatures plunged to -16C at Aberdeen airport and -15C in Edinburgh. Manchester airport and Yeovil recorded -10C, while temperatures dropped to -7C in Birmingham.
Areas such as Northern Ireland, western Scotland and north-west England are set to be the next affected by snow during the course of Friday.
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The Independent Petrol Retailers Association claimed that up to 500 independent petrol retailers in Scotland and the east of England risked running out of petrol and diesel by the weekend. Filling stations in rural areas away from the main trunk roads were particularly vulnerable, it added.
The easing of snow showers meant Gatwick Airport reopened on Friday morning, although major delays and cancellations were expected to continue to cause headaches for travellers.
A statement on the airport’s website said: “Our advice to passengers remains – do not travel to the airport without first checking with your airline to make sure that your flight is departing today.
WEATHER AND TRAVEL INFO
Get the latest on school closures and travel problems via your local website Check if snow is forecast in your area at BBC Weather Details of motorway and local road closures and public transport disruption are available at BBC Travel News For advice on handling difficult driving conditions, see the Highways Agency website For information about severe weather warnings, see the Met Office website For information about staying healthy in the cold weather, see the NHS Winter Health website
“Passengers should expect delays and cancellations and it is likely to take a few days before flight schedules return to normal. Train services to and from the airport continue to be limited and road networks are likely to remain severely affected by the weather.”
In other developments:
Southern trains, which operates in south London and between central London and the south coast, said it would be operating a revised timetable on FridaySoutheastern trains, which runs out of London Victoria and Charing Cross, said it was operating an extremely limited number of services from an emergency timetableNational Rail Enquiries has set up a hotline for information about snow-related disruption on 08453 017 641, and also has updates at @nationalrailenq on TwitterPolice forces in Kent and Surrey continued to advise drivers to only travel if necessary as the low temperatures turned snow into iceEurostar said its timetable would be significantly reduced, with cancellations and delays, until SundayBournemouth airport will be closed until at least 0800 GMT on FridayNo trains are running between Cleethorpes and Doncaster, Lincoln and Grimsby and between Lincoln and Doncaster.Humberside airport closed until 0730 GMT. Flights at Robin Hood Airports cancelled
On Thursday, Transport Secretary Phillip Hammond told the Commons he was doing everything he could to keep Britain moving, but his Labour shadow minister Maria Eagle accused him of “complacency”.
The government said that “challenging” road conditions were making it difficult to supply fuel to some areas – even though the refineries themselves were operating without major disruption.
The Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc) said that at Thursday lunchtime 70% of normal services were running and 58% of those were on time.
Mr Hammond said he had heard “far too many stories” of rail passengers being unable to obtain information about train services.
The transport secretary has written to the train companies to remind them of their responsibilities.
An active search by mountain rescue team volunteers for missing fell walker Gwenda Merriot, 60, from Wiltshire, has ended, but posters are being put up and hotels and B&Bs are being contacted.
She was last seen in Ambleside in the Lake District on Wednesday morning and there has been heavy snowfall since then.
Some 1,200 schools were closed in Scotland on Thursday, representing 45% of the total number of schools.
Some children in the north-east missed out on lessons for a sixth day and about 250,000 Scottish pupils had the day off.
More than 4,000 schools were closed in England.
A total of 38cm (15in) of snow has fallen in Sheffield, the most recorded in December since records began in 1882.
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