Minister slammed as country brought to standstill

Thousands of people were left stranded as rail operators cancelled services and four major airports closed yesterday, while motorists faced further chaos.

Around 7,000 schools turned children away from lessons while around two in five people failed to turn up for work, likely to impact on the economy in the crucial run-up to Christmas.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond, who has announced a review of how transport operators have coped, was forced to defend himself in the Commons after Labour's Maria Eagle told him to "get a grip".

The Shadow Transport Secretary added: "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 1.2bn a day."

Mr Hammond replied: "When there's extremely high snow and extremely low temperatures, there will be disruption to the transport system."

But the Confederation of British Industry said more needed to be done to ensure the country could function in cold weather.

Welcoming Mr Hammond's review, Neil Bentley, CBI Director of Business Environment, said: "Businesses and their staff are doing what they can to keep Britain open for business in these difficult weather conditions.

"Given the critical economic importance of the transport network, this review is as welcome as it is timely."

But he added: "It is important that transport providers work with the Government to improve the ability of the network to cope with adverse weather conditions."

Heavy criticism was heaped on rail bosses after 300 passengers found themselves stranded by snow overnight on a Southern train in West Sussex.

One passenger, Rebecca Forsey, described the situation as "an absolute nightmare." She said: "We had to wait around for several hours in the cold on a freezing platform. We finally got something to eat at 4am."

Rail magazine managing editor Nigel Harris said: "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.

"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."

The Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc) claimed problems were 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 this kind of disruption is incredibly frustrating."

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

Officials at Gatwick said the airport would not reopen until at least 6am today.There was better news at Edinburgh Airport, which was shut on Wednesday after it opened its runway yesterday afternoon.

On the roads, the AA said it had attended 10,500 breakdowns, with calls coming in at 1,150 every hour.

In Hampshire, a gritting lorry only added to the traffic problems after it overturned as it cleared a stretch of the A3.

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

Forecasters said around 15 inches (38cm) of snow had fallen in Redesdale, Northumberland, while another 10 inches (25cm) carpeted Charlwood, west Sussex.

Temperatures – which struggled to climb above zero during the day and fell to minus 17.9C in Kinbrace, in Scotland – were expected to plummet further last night.

Billy Payne, a forecaster of MeteoGroup, said it was the coldest night of the season so far for much of England and Wales.

"We don't often see such a cold snowy spell so early in the season. It's quite remarkable – it isn't something that happens very often so early in the winter."