Post by Queen of the Damned on Feb 2, 2009 22:35:09 GMT -5
Commuters face more disruption and hundreds of schools are to remain shut after the heaviest snowfalls in 18 years hit parts of Britain.
South-east England was worst affected on Monday with major problems on the roads, rail network and at airports.
The snow has been moving northwards, with up to 12 inches (30cm) possible in the Pennines, north-east England and the Scottish Borders.
Forecasters say ice could also make roads hazardous in southern England.
The Met Office has issued extreme weather warnings for much of the UK.
Snow drifts
BBC Weather Centre's Alex Deakin said northern England, especially the Pennines, would bear the brunt of Tuesday's snowfalls, with up to eight inches (20cm) also possible in eastern Scotland and the Borders.
Strong winds could cause snow to drift in those areas, worsening the conditions.
Snow will also continue across south Wales and south-west England, and spread into Northern Ireland, our forecaster said.
More snow is likely in northern Scotland on Wednesday, he added.
More than 3,000 schools closed on Monday and a significant proportion are expected to remain shut for a second day.
They include all schools in Birmingham, Bradford and the Borders, and all 403 state schools in Surrey. Dozens are also set to be closed in Leicestershire, Derby and Lincolnshire.
On Monday, major travel problems included:
* Nearly 800 flights at London's Heathrow airport were cancelled after up to eight inches of snow fell on the capital
* London City and Luton airports were closed altogether and remain so until further notice
* All London buses were withdrawn from service on Monday morning and many services remain suspended
* Train services, particularly Southern and Southeastern, also suffered widespread cancellations
BBC transport correspondent Tom Symonds said train services in East Anglia and on the East Coast Mainline between London and Edinburgh could be hit on Tuesday as the snow headed northwards.
The Highways Agency is continuing to warn drivers not to travel unless their journey is essential.
Those who do venture out should be well prepared, it said.
Jenny Hart, of The Highways Agency, said 500 gritting lorries were being used to keep main routes open.
She said: "We're well prepared for everything that the snow throws at us at the moment. We've got enough grit to make sure that we can grit continuously for the next 12 days - that's 18,000 tonnes of grit just in Yorkshire alone."
The Federation of Small Businesses has estimated that each day of disruption will cost the economy about £1.2bn.
It estimated that on Monday, almost 6.5m people - a fifth of Britain's workforce - took the day off work as a result of the weather.
'Scapegoats'
The extent of the disruption to the transport network has prompted some criticism of the UK's preparations for the forecast snow.
Liberal Democrat shadow transport secretary Norman Baker said it was "an absolute disgrace" the country's infrastructure was unable to cope with bad weather.
"The lack of preparedness is astounding and damaging for the economy," he said.
Cars driving through snow
The Highways Agency said people should only take essential journeys
"I have travelled from Stockholm to the Arctic Circle on a train that arrived five minutes early, yet Britain lapses into chaos at the first hint of snow."
But others defended the efforts that had been made.
Paul Bettison, of the Local Government Association, said councils were being unfairly blamed for much of the disruption.
"Other organisations that are affected by the snow appear to be using councils as a scapegoat for their own poor preparations for the weather," he said.
Sam Katz, the mayor of Winnipeg in Canada, a city used to heavy winter snowfalls, told the BBC he had a lot of sympathy for UK cities struggling to cope with the adverse conditions.
"We are set up to expect snow... so we know how to deal with these types of situations and to keep things going," he said.
"When you're in a city... or a country that... isn't set up for something to happen on a regular basis, it makes it much, much more difficult."
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, admitted that the capital was not equipped to deal with the unusually heavy snowfalls seen on Sunday night.
"This is the kind of snow we haven't seen in London in decades. We don't have the snow-ploughs that we would otherwise need to be sure of getting the roads free," he said.
But he added it did not necessarily make sense to make a major investment in snow-ploughs if they were used only once every two decades.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7866294.stm
