Large areas of Britain have been brought to a halt as the big freeze tightened its grip on the nation.

Two major airports Edinburgh and Gatwick have closed, with motorists and rail passengers also experiencing severe disruption.

A spokeswoman for Gatwick Airport said: “We brought in extra people to try to clear the runway. We had a vast army of people. But as fast as they were clearing the snow, the quicker it settled again.”

Police said the M3 was closed for a time after a body, thought to be a suicide victim, was found on the southbound carriageway shortly before the morning rush hour. In West Yorkshire, a woman died after falling into an icy lake at Pontefract racecourse.

Temperatures fell as low as nearly minus 20 degrees Celsius in the Scottish Highlands. During the night, minus 19.8 degrees Celsius was recorded in Altnaharra and thousands of children had to stay at home again due to school closures.

Forecasters warned that the onslaught of Arctic weather will not show signs of letting up until tomorrow. Met Office forecaster David Price said: “It will remain bitterly cold today with the strong north-easterly winds continuing to bring snow showers and making temperatures feel as low as minus six or seven degrees.

Severe weather warnings were in place for the whole of Scotland, with widespread icy roads and heavy snow expected in central and south westerly areas. Warnings were also in place for northern England, the south coast and parts of Wales.

Meanwhile, heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures have also swept across Europe killing at least eight homeless people, closing major airports and causing hundreds of road accidents.

Geneva, a major hub for low-cost carrier Easyjet, was forced to shut as staff struggled to clear runways of snow. Chambery and Grenoble airports in south-eastern France were also closed.

Eurocontrol, the central air control agency, reported severe flight delays in Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna and Prague.

In Poland, police said eight homeless men died last night after a bitter cold front roared in, with temperatures falling to around -20 degrees Celsius. Police said the men, from different parts of the country, had been drinking. The eastern Polish city of Bialystok hit -26 degress Celsius.

Winter weather caused some 2,000 accidents on German roads yesterday, officials said.

Police in northern Austria said a 69-year-old man froze to death overnight when he slipped on a snow-covered bridge on his way home from a funeral and lost consciousness.

Zurich, Switzerland’s biggest airport, reported delays and cancellations on the day many VIPs, including former President Bill Clinton and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, were travelling to FIFA’s headquarters to push their countries’ bids to host the 2018 and 2022 football World Cups.

An airport spokeswoman said officials anticipated heavy snowfall but expected to keep flights going. However the presence of so many private jets in Zurich meant the airport had to turn down requests for diverted landings.

Nine regions in north-west and south-east France were put on a weather alert, warning of snow and ice. SNCF, France’s national railway, said traffic on the main south-east routes had been affected by heavy snow, but 80 per cent of its high-speed trains were still running.

Italy was also hit by snow storms yesterday especially in the Milan and Lombardy region of northern Italy.

In Poland, police were carrying out patrols to find homeless people and get them into shelters. The bad weather was also blamed for a collision between a tram and a car that killed one person in Szczecin.

Further south in the Balkans, 300 people were evacuated from their homes in the northern part of Montenegro because of heavy rains.

Neighbouring Albania declared a state of emergency due to widespread flooding in Shkodra district, 75 miles from the capital, Tirana.

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