Travellers halted as snow engulfs South

Yorkshire encountered intermittent snow showers overnight, with bitter cold and icy conditions across the county. A yellow severe weather warning from the Met Office remained in place today for the region.

The A686 Hartside Pass in Cumbria was closed between Alston and Melmerby because of snow. But parts of the South were worst hit, with the Arctic conditions causing havoc on the roads, rail, air and sea journeys. The opening day of the Cheltenham Festival went ahead, although the start was delayed by 35 minutes after parts of the course were frozen following a -12C (10.4F) wind chill overnight.

Hundreds of ferry passengers were stranded for 20 hours, and were then forced to remain onboard at a French harbour as the ship’s doors failed to open.

The Irish Ferries ship finally docked after five attempts at Cherbourg, 24 hours later than scheduled because of rough seas. But the bow door on the Oscar Wilde jammed as passengers prepared to disembark. The journey was meant to be overnight but ended up taking two days.

Elsewhere, many roads in Kent and Sussex were blocked or closed, with hundreds of motorists trapped overnight in treacherous conditions. Police dealt with hundreds of calls from motorists reporting collisions, broken-down vehicles and abandoned cars.

On the railways, bad weather in France and Belgium meant Eurostar cancelled its trains for most of the day. Cancellations and delays hit some domestic rail services. Jersey Airport was closed all day and UK passengers were delayed at European airports.

In Wales, strong winds led to speed restrictions on the M48 Severn Bridge, while in Somerset hazardous conditions hit Brassknocker Hill in Monkton Combe.

The outlook for today was another frosty start, with a mixture of sunshine and scattered wintry showers, mainly in northern Scotland, North Sea coastal counties and towards Irish Sea coasts.

Many central and southern areas will remain largely dry and fine with sunny spells, with a slight chance of an isolated wintry shower. But forecasters said it would be “feeling slightly less cold than recent days”.

Tonight, wintry showers will be mostly confined to the North Sea coasts, although one or two may continue along Irish Sea coasts.

Many other areas will be dry with lengthy clear spells and a widespread very sharp frost with winds falling light.