UK weather: Snow causes travel delays and power cuts
UK weather: Snow causes travel delays and power cuts
Heavy snow and ice have disrupted road and air travel in parts of the UK and left thousands of homes without power.
Drivers were at a standstill on the A14 in Northamptonshire for several hours, while a lorry crash on the M1 blocked the motorway.
The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for ice overnight across most of the UK.
Passengers at Stansted Airport faced long delays as flights were suspended twice to clear snow from the runway.
A spokesman for the airport said the snow had passed over and they were not anticipating any more closures. Many flights have been delayed and almost 30 outbound Ryanair flights have been cancelled.
Some passengers have complained on social media that they have been stuck on planes on the ground for several hours.
@easyJet Hey we have been trapped on a plane at Stansted Airport for more than 3 hours. There are many children onboard. We got a cup of water an hour ago. Send help
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Luton Airport said it had to significantly reduce the number of inbound flights it was accepting.
Some flights have also been cancelled and there have been delays to allow de-icing of aircraft, a spokesman added.
Ryanair apologised for having to cancel "a small number of flights" because of runway closures at several UK airports.
Meanwhile, Western Power Distribution said about 4,000 homes were without power in the Midlands, south-west England and Wales, but that more than 25,000 customers had had their power restored since Tuesday morning.
The firm said the cuts were all snow-related and extra staff - who had been on standby for poor weather - had been called in to work to reconnect properties.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said about 2,000 customers were still without power at 16:30 GMT.
Andover and Basingstoke in Hampshire, Melksham and Swindon in Wiltshire, Newbury in Berkshire, as well as areas of Oxfordshire, had all been affected, it added.
Power had now been restored to about 17,000 properties, the firm said.
Frank Bird, from Highways England, said the worst of theconditions were now over in the West Midlands, as the bad weather had moved eastwards.
He said 2,000 tonnes of salt and grit had been put down in the region overnight, adding that treating roads was a "battle that we are constantly fighting".
One of those caught up in the problems on the A14 was lorry driver Simon Talbot, who told BBC News he had been stuck for more than three hours.source- bbc
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