Britain, shivering through its coldest winter in three decades, was hit by a fresh blanket of snow today, halting flights from London Gatwick, Birmingham and Cardiff airports.An EasyJet flight from Gatwick to Malta was cancelled while Air Malta afternoon flights have been delayed.

The Met Office issued severe weather warnings for a large swathe of England, stretching from Devon to Essex and also covering the West Midlands and northwest England.

The snow fell on St Hilary's Day, the coldest day of the year according to medieval lore.

However, there were some signs of a respite to the bitter start to the new year, with the Met Office saying that milder air would bring rain across much of the country by the weekend.

Travellers at Gatwick in Sussex suffered delays after flights were suspended to allow snow to be cleared from the runway. Heathrow airport was open, although it was reporting some cancellations.

Flights were suspended from Birmingham airport while Cardiff airport was closed until 1100.

In Ireland, more than 2,500 people were without electricity after high winds brought down power lines. Heavy rainfall and melting ice also caused flooding in the south of the country, with fresh snow causing transport problems elsewhere.

The water supply was disrupted in many councils as pipes burst in the bad weather. Authorities in several parts of Dublin have been distributing drinking water from tankers.

Commuters travelling into London on overground train services suffered delays because of signalling problems.

The government yesterday asked local authorities to cut in half the amount of grit put on icy roads to conserve salt supplies.