More snow and ice threaten travel disruption

Widespread travel delays may occur across Britain as snow moves north and icy patches develop on untreated surfaces.

The Met Office issued severe weather warnings for much of the country yesterday morning, forecasting more falls of snow in the West Midlands and further north.

Motorists faced longer journeys to work yesterday as the Highways Agency (HA) predicted continued poor weather conditions and said many roads in the northeast and northwest were likely to have between two and five centimetres more snow, with up to a 10 centimetre increase in some places.

Falling temperatures overnight increased the risk of melted snow turning to ice. The HA said it had deployed 400 salt spreading vehicles across the country and advised motorists not to travel unless necessary until the weather improved.

The Met Office said it expected outbreaks of rain over southwest England to move slowly northeast into Wales, the Midlands and the rest of southern England during the day. The forecast for today is unsettled with showers or rain in most places. Snow is also likely across Scotland and northern England, it said.

The HA advised drivers to take precautions if travelling in the icy conditions, warning that it can take ten times longer to stop than under normal conditions.

Airline passengers, meanwhile, are unlikely to experience serious delays because of the weather. A spokesman for BAA, which runs seven UK airports including Heathrow and Gatwick, said all were operating a normal service yesterday.

"All our airports are open and operating normally. There are no delays or cancellations due to the weather," the spokesman said.