Heavy snow has brought travel chaos to Britain, with flights cancelled, roads closed, motorists stranded in their cars and rail services disrupted.

The UK's second-busiest airport - Gatwick in West Sussex - had to shut for more than seven hours, while there were no morning flights at Luton airport in Bedfordshire.

A series of accidents, including some involving jack-knifed lorries, led to road closures, with a section of the M40 in Buckinghamshire shut in both directions during the morning rush-hour.

Television presenter Davina McCall was among those stuck on the A21 in Kent for three hours after a lorry blocked the road. She said: "We got wedged in a whole series of cars and it was pelting down with snow. I did call the police after a couple of hours and they came pretty quickly."

Lorries and cars were abandoned in other parts of Kent, with road conditions in the the Medway area particularly bad.

Blizzards caused more than 70 lorries to get stuck on the A120 leading out of Harwich in Essex.

Vehicles were also trapped on other major roads in Essex, including the A12 northbound at Colchester. A number of drivers slept in their vehicles until gritters and snowploughs were able to reach them and open the roads.

"With further snow forecast over the next few days I would advise people to only make journeys if they are absolutely necessary," said Chief Inspector Jon Dodman of Essex Police.

The last day of term was called off in some schools in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Kent. The port of Felixstowe in Suffolk was closed over night.

Road closures included a section of the A168 in North Yorkshire, part of the A1/M in North Yorkshire, and a section of the A1 in Bedfordshire. Accidents also led to lane closures on the M2 and M20 in Kent.