Snow, ice and freezing fog caused more disruption to the Christmas getaway today, with flights grounded, trains delayed and drivers warned of treacherous conditions on some roads.

The Met Office issued weather warnings for large parts of England, Wales and Northern Ireland and said roads in many areas would be icy.

In London and the southeast, heavy rain replaced the ice and snow and forecasters said many parts of the country can expect showers or mist before conditions ease for Christmas Day.

Cross-Channel rail operator Eurostar said it would run a special shuttle service to clear the backlog of passengers waiting to travel after a three-day stoppage.

It hoped to run 18 trains from St Pancras station in London, each carrying up to 750 passengers. That is about two-thirds of its typical service.

"The queues are moving really fast and everyone's getting onto trains quickly," a Eurostar spokesman said. "Customers should still arrive at the station one hour before their original departure time."

The cold weather caused Eurostar trains to break down over the weekend. About 2,500 people were trapped for up to 16 hours in the Channel Tunnel with no food or water, power or air conditioning. Thousands more were delayed.

A broken down train caused delays at Liverpool Street station in London, while bad weather disrupted services across southern Scotland.

London's main airports -- Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton -- were open and hoping to operate a near-normal service, according to airport operator BAA.

Liverpool's John Lennon Airport reopened after severe snow forced it to close briefly on Wednesday night. There were a string of cancellations at Manchester Airport on Thursday morning and warnings of delays and grounded flights at Glasgow.

Budget airline easyJet cancelled eight flights due to the bad weather. Ryanair hoped to run a full schedule, although fog, snow and de-icing will cause delays.

The Highways Agency warned drivers to take extra care on the roads. An overturned lorry briefly closed the M1 southbound at Watford Gap, Northamptonshire. Two of the lanes were expected to reopen during the morning.

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