After 300 spend night on abandoned train, passengers vent their anger at Britain's cold weather shutdown

LARGE areas of the country came to a standstill today, raising questions over Britain's capacity to cope in sub-zero conditions.

Thousands of commuters were left high and dry after rail operators cancelled many services altogether, while several major airports closed their doors and motorists faced chaos on the roads after many were forced to spend the night sleeping in their cars.

Meanwhile, 300 passengers found themselves stranded overnight on a Southern train in West Sussex after heavy snow caused a series of line failures at Three Bridges station.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Passenger Rebecca Forsey told the BBC: "It was an absolute nightmare. We had to wait around for several hours in the cold on a freezing platform. We finally got something to eat at 4am."

This morning bad weather meant thousands of children were turned away from lessons at schools across the country while workers arrived late or were forced to take the day off.

And as forecasters predicted more wintery weather, critics hit out at Britain's handling of the cold snap.

Shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle said the crisis was costing the economy up to 1.2 billion a day.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

During Commons question time, she told Transport Secretary Philip Hammond to "get a grip", adding: "The winter resilience review commissioned by the previous government has produced its final report and recommendations, yet the country is in chaos with passengers forced to sleep at stations, stuck freezing all night in broken-down trains and trapped in their cars - all at a cost to the economy of up to 1.2 billion a day.

"So why aren't the findings being implemented?"

Her question came after Mr Hammond announced a review of how transport operators have coped in the latest big freeze.

"When there's extremely high snow and extremely low temperatures, there will be disruption to the transport system," he said.

The Rail Maritime and Transport union earlier called on ministers to strip train operator Southeastern of its franchise after its services ground to a total halt and bosses accused train companies of failing to deliver services because of the snow.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Government was also urged to suspend planned rail fare increases next month.

General secretary Bob Crow said: "In light of the horrific experiences of travellers on the railways during this cold snap, it would be nothing short of a scandal if the private train operators were allowed to jack up fares by up to 13% in a few weeks' time."

Rail magazine managing editor Nigel Harris criticised the disruption.

"I think it's outrageous and disgraceful in the 21st century that we can have people stuck all night on trains in built-up areas in southern England," he said.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"It's not as if the people were stuck in Outer Mongolia. These were ridiculous and shameful failures. Being involved in the rail business, these incidents make me angry and embarrassed."

Many of those hoping to travel from Gatwick, Edinburgh, Southampton and London City Airport airports also saw their plans thrown into disarray.

A Gatwick spokesman said: "We are doing everything we can to resume operations, however conditions have deteriorated considerably. Our teams are working around the clock to make the runway safe for aircraft to use and get our airlines and passengers flying again."

Officials warned there would be no flights until at least 6am tomorrow.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

There was more optimism in Edinburgh, Southampton and at London City Airport where runways were predicted to reopen later today.

On the roads, motorists were warned of hazardous driving conditions and advised to make only essential journeys.

A jack-knifed lorry meant the M3 was closed northbound at junction 9 while many other major routes were subject to severe delays.

Up to eight inches (20cm) of fresh snowfall is expected in the east of England this afternoon, according to weather experts, with London and the South East also taking a battering from more blizzards.

Temperatures across the UK will struggle to break zero.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Forecaster David Price, from the Met Office, said: "It will continue to be very cold for most of the country today and, in terms of snow, it will be a very similar picture to yesterday.

"Showers will be pushing in from the North East coast and across northern England all the way through to the east coast.

"A band of snow will continue to affect south east England, with the Home Counties, Kent, Surrey and London all experiencing between 2cm and 5cm (two inches) of snowfall. Southern counties and Devon will also have snow."

In England, the Met Office has issued severe warnings of heavy snow in the North East, Yorkshire and Humber, the East, the South West and London and the South East.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Temperatures fell to minus 18.6C in the Scottish Highlands last night, with warnings also applying to Grampian, Strathclyde, Central, Tayside and Fife and South West, Lothian and Borders.

Police in the North East denied reports circulating on social networking sites that they were pulling over and fining drivers who had snow on their cars.

Both Durham and Northumbria Police spoke out to counter rumours being spread on the internet and via text message.

A spokesman for Northumbria Police confirmed: "As at any time of the year, in the interests of road safety, drivers are required to have a clear view through their windows when driving and officers may speak to drivers if this is not the case.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"However information appearing on Facebook and being received by people via text message that we are specifically targeting drivers for having snow on their car is just not the case - it would appear to be just another urban myth."

Inspector Ed Turner of Durham Police said: "People should clear their cars completely before setting off and make sure their vision is not obstructed, but we have no intention of issuing fixed penalty notices to drivers who have snow on their vehicle roofs."

Sandown Park, in Surrey, was forced to abandon tomorrow's race day after four inches of snow fell on the course last night, course officials said.

And road rescue group the AA continued to receive large numbers of calls.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Spokesman Gavin Hill-Smith said they were busy with 5,500 breakdowns nationally from midnight to 11am today.

And today the rescue centre was receiving about 1,300 calls per hour, which Mr Hill-Smith said was far fewer than yesterday.

"On icy roads motorists need to leave a 10 second gap as stopping distance increased."

He urged motorists to pack in their boot spare winter clothing, food and drink, a snow shovel, blankets and to keep mobile phones fully charged.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"People should expect the worst and be prepared for every eventuality," he said.

A gritting lorry overturned as it attempted to help keep a major route clear, Hampshire County Council confirmed today.

The salt spreading lorry ended up on its side, adding to traffic problems along the A3 at Buriton, near Petersfield, Hampshire.

A spokeswoman for the council said no one was hurt in the incident.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

As of 1pm, as many as 30% of train services were not running and, of those operating, only 58% were running to time.

The Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc) said: "Problems have been caused by the sheer volume of snow and by ice and snow building up on electric conductor rails."

Atoc chief executive Michael Roberts added: "We apologise to all those people who have struggled to get to where they want to go. We understand that that this kind of disruption is incredibly frustrating."

Network Rail operations and customer services director Robin Gisby said: "It's been another tough day for passengers coming into London from south east England."

Meanwhile, London City Airport was able to open early this afternoon, although passengers were warned there could be delays and cancellations.