Travel chaos as big freeze goes on

The treacherous weather conditions gripping Britain look set to continue with temperatures likely to plummet to -9C, forecasters have said.

As road and rail struggled with the freezing conditions, travellers were warned of dangerous driving conditions in central and northern England as small showers turn to ice.

Aisling Creevey, forecaster for MeteoGroup, the weather arm of the Press Association, said there were also "perfect conditions for fog" in low-lying, sheltered areas.

Six severe weather alerts were in place tonight as the Met Office warned that ice could be a hazard on roads and pavements across much of England.

Ms Creevey said: "Temperatures will struggle to rise from their overnight minimums. Over the next couple of nights it is going to be very chilly.

"Tonight, Wales and England will see temperatures of between 0C and -2C, and Kent could see -4C. North of that, in Scotland and northern England, it will be between -4 and -6C. Tomorrow we could see -6C to -9C overnight."

England bore the brunt of the cold weather because of cold air coming in from the Continent and an area of high pressure. Scotland was slightly milder as a result of warmer air being pushed over from the Atlantic, she added.

Issuing yellow alerts, which urge people to "be aware", the Met Office warned of "risk of disruption to travel".

The RAC said it had seen the busiest February weekend in its history, with 41% more calls than usual.

The worst affected area was Devon and Cornwall which had twice the usual number of call-outs. In addition, the south of England had 80% more breakdowns than usual and the West Midlands and Wales had 65% more.

A 25-mile (40km) long section of the A1 northbound was shut after a number of collisions between Allerton Park, near York, and the Catterick area.

Police said the incidents began at 2.15am near Bedale when an HGV left the road. A spokesman said this was followed by a number of other reports of incidents between York and Darlington.

He said one HGV jack-knifed on the northbound carriageway at Hackforth. Then two further lorries jack-knifed north of this, with a further one at Leeming which suffered a ruptured diesel tank as a result.

A number of cars were also affected by the weather conditions and police attended several reports of vehicles which had left the road at locations including Kirby Fleetham, Fencote and Leeming Bar.

Other incidents were also reported on the southbound carriageway.

A school bus was involved in a smash this morning, Suffolk police added.

At 9am there was an accident on the A12 near Woodbridge involving a blue Peugeot 206, a red Rover 25 and a Volvo bus, a police spokeswoman said. The male drivers of the cars sustained minor injuries but no one on the bus was hurt.

A spokesman for the Highways Agency said congestion on the country's main roads eased later in the day.

"The A1 cleared at about 12.50pm, and everything is running fine on motorways and major A-roads," he said.

With snow expected in some parts this evening, he said roads will be treated and cleared through the night.

"We are out tonight with gritters and salt after the Met Office issued a snow warning for the east of the country," he added.

Sub-zero temperatures caused havoc over the weekend.

Heathrow Airport axed half of all flights last night but the airport, which had 2.4in (6cm) of snow, said it resumed a normal service today.

A handful of schools were forced to close around the country due to the adverse weather conditions.

Meanwhile, police in London are searching for an Australian woman who went missing as the snow blanketed the capital in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Sarah Browne, 22, from Haringey, disappeared after a night out with friends in Covent Garden. She was last seen at around 4am in the vicinity of Leicester Square.

Police said they are "growing increasingly concerned" for Ms Browne's well-being.