Ice Warnings As Transport Chaos Continues

Fresh warnings of ice have been issued by the Met Office as the after effects of heavy snow and freezing conditions continue to wreak havoc on transport in Britain.

Much of England remains under a cold weather alert of level 3, which warns of "100% probability" of severe cold weather and icy conditions.

A spokesman for the Met Office said that an amber warning of icy conditions which was in force for many areas of England earlier had been replaced by a "less significant" yellow warning.

It tells people to "be aware" that there could be icy stretches of road overnight and heading in to Monday.

Almost 400 transatlantic airline passengers bound for Heathrow Airport are being forced to spend the night in Ireland after their flights from Atlanta and Dallas were told to turn around.

In London, half of the 1,300 flights originally scheduled for Sunday at Heathrow were cancelled - and a third of the total cancellations were made in advance.

Many passengers described the situation as "unbelievable", saying they did not understand why so little snow had caused such problems.

Philippa Britton, who lives in Kendal, Cumbria, was trying to fly back to Manchester.

Her flight had been delayed. She said: "On the flight into London lots of people were astonished that so many flights had been cancelled.

"It's unbelievable.

"The runways seemed clear and they have cancelled the flights.

"Our midnight flight from Hong Kong was cancelled - it has been chaotic.

"And now one of our bags has been lost."

A Heathrow spokesman said: "We have to take pro-active action to cancel flights to minimise disruption for passengers.

"This was a specific recommendation of the report into last winter's problems, and (it is) the first time this system has been implemented."

Transport Secretary Justine Greening also defended the decision, saying officials had been following the recommendations of the report.

One disgruntled passenger said he boarded a plane at Heathrow at 8pm on Saturday and was still stuck on the tarmac at 2.30am Sunday morning.

"We're not really being told anything so we have no idea what's going on," Andy Brown told Sky News Online.

"Passengers are getting very annoyed with the staff, there's no aircon, so it's hot, stuffy, smelly."

Thousands of passengers at Luton, Stansted and Birmingham airports have also had their journeys disrupted.

A spokesman for Birmingham airport said a number of flights were cancelled while some were diverted but it had resumed normal service by Sunday evening.

The runway at Stansted was shut "temporarily" for snow clearing Sunday morning, a spokesman said, but by evening most flights were running as normal.

Passengers at Gatwick airport were also warned of possible delays.

Airport operators are urging passengers to check with their airlines about delayed or cancelled flights before setting off.

London Ambulance Service experienced a surge in 999 calls with 2,500 coming in between midnight and noon - an increase of more than 26% on the same period last Sunday, it said.

Dozens of cars were abandoned on the northbound side of the M40 between High Wycombe and Stokenchurch, and there are multiple delays on other highways, with some drivers spending Saturday night trapped in their cars.

The Highways Agency has rejected claims it was slow to respond. "We were as prepared as possible. As soon as the snow started to fall we had the gritters out," a spokesman told Sky News.

The RAC says motorists are facing a "dangerous cocktail of driving conditions" and is urging then to stay at home if possible.

Rail services have also been affected, with disruption continuing today.

Southern Railway said trains were subject to delay and cancellation, with journey times extended by up to 30 minutes.

National Rail has warned passengers to check departures.

In the capital Transport for London (TfL) said Tube services started well Sunday although there were "some issues" on the outer reaches of the Central and Jubilee lines.

All bus routes were said to be operating this morning after a few "curtailments" to night bus services.

The biggest snowfall Saturday night was at Church Fenton in North Yorkshire, which recorded over 16cm (6in) of snow, while up to 15cm (5in) was forecast for parts of Cumbria, Lincolnshire, East Anglia, North Yorkshire, the Peak District and the Midlands

Leicestershire-based software developer Ben Marsh has set up an online interactive map, encouraging Twitter users to tweet news and pictures of snow in their area using the hashtag #uksnow.

The icy spell has seen daytime temperatures plummet four or five degrees lower than average for February - traditionally the coldest month of the year.

:: A 35-year-old woman was taken to hospital with hypothermia after being rescued from a frozen lake near the Attenborough Nature Reserve in Beeston last night.

Read more about the weather:

:: Live blog: Snow updates from around the UK

:: Snow disruption: Road, rail and air latest

:: Most recent UK weather forecast

:: Picture gallery: Wintry weather across Britain