UK weather live travel updates: Six hour delays on Eurotunnel as freezing conditions cause chaos on roads and rail

Hazardous roads and damaged railway power supplies cause havoc for travellers

UK becomes a winter wonderland as snow falls

Drivers and passengers using Britain's roads and railways are being warned to expect disruption as freezing conditions continue to cause havoc across the country.

Delays and cancellations to travel services were reported across the UK after the coldest night of the year.

Clear skies overnight saw temperatures plummet below the -12.4C recorded on Saturday night, with -13C recorded in Shropshire.

The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning, covering large parts of the country, including much of the Midlands, Scotland and Wales.

The AA said drivers should expect hazardous conditions on the roads while travellers attempting to reach France using the Eurotunnel were warned about delays of up to six hours.

At Heathrow, where dozens of flights were affected on Monday, 16 departures were listed as cancelled for Tuesday with the airport advising passengers to check the status of their flight before travelling to the airport.

Cancellations are also reported at Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh airports.

Airlines had previously said the re-positioning of aircraft and crews from previous days was adding to the problems.

Dozens of schools in the South West, West Midlands and Wales have kept their gates closed for a second day following the bitterly cold conditions.

Additional reporting by agencies

Key Points

• 8.21am: Another freezing night brings threat of delays and cancellations
• 9.04am: Scores of schools set to be closed for second day in a row
• 10.58am: Passengers due to fly to or from Heathrow given option of a full refund or re-booking
• 11.12am: AA warns freezing temperatures will cause 'even more hazardous conditions on already wet and slippery roads'
• 11.54am: Freezing conditions have damaged Eurotunnel's power supply, leading to six-hour delays
• 1.17pm: Met Office issues yellow weather warning for ice, in effect until 11am on Wednesday

[12 December 2017 10:43 · Samuel Osborne]

Eurotunnel has told customers to cancel or change their plans as passengers face up to six hours of delays in both directions.

The Le Shuttle services between Folkestone, Kent and Calais, in France, has been hampered by what the company called "unforeseen capacity restrictions".

It has warned high-sided vehicles, including lorries and coaches, that there could be a wait of up to six hours from the booked departure time, while they suggest this is reduced to one hour for France-bound cars and three minutes for UK-bound passengers in low vehicles.

But customers on Twitter complained of waiting times many hours long and said a lack of information had caused confusion.

[12 December 2017 10:58 · Samuel Osborne]

At least 16 departing flights from Heathrow have been cancelled as airlines continued to recover from disruption caused by heavy snow.

The UK's busiest airport said its runways were open and fully operational.

British Airways said it planned to operate a "near normal schedule," but passengers due to fly to or from Heathrow were given the option of a full refund or re-booking for travel until 18 December.

[12 December 2017 11:12 · Samuel Osborne]

Today is expected to be "extremely busy" as freezing temperatures cause "even more hazardous conditions on already wet and slippery roads," AA president Edmund King has said. 

He urged drivers to take emergency provisions such as chocolate bars, water, a torch and a shovel in case of a breakdown.

The AA recorded its busiest day of the year yesterday, with 24,000 callouts.

[12 December 2017 11:17 · Samuel Osborne]

Rail operators have not reported any major disruption due to the cold weather today, although delays and cancellations across the entire South Western Railway network following a trackside fire at London's Waterloo station yesterday were expected to continue until 4pm.

[12 December 2017 11:25 · Samuel Osborne]

The Met Office has issued a yellow severe weather warning for ice. 

[12 December 2017 11:41 · Samuel Osborne]

[12 December 2017 11:54 · Samuel Osborne]

Freezing conditions have damaged Eurotunnel's power supply, leading to six-hour delays, the company has warned.

A Eurotunnel spokesman said: "The residual delays this morning are the aftermath of the horrific weather conditions over the past couple of days, particularly in France where there have been power cuts and road, rail and port closures.

"The tunnel has been running services throughout, but we did experience disruptions due to the weather, especially from the power cuts across the region.

"The delays are currently mainly affecting high vehicles on the passenger service, everything else is back to a normal service. We are working to reduce the waiting time as quickly as possible."

[12 December 2017 12:00 · Samuel Osborne]

[12 December 2017 12:41 · Lizzie Dearden]

While the focus is on the weather in the UK today, more than 50 world leaders are gathering in Paris for a summit on another crisis linked to the weather: global warming. Sean Penn, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Elon Musk are among prominent figures joining world leaders at the summit, which marks the second anniversary of the Paris accord. 

Participants are expected to announce billions of dollars' worth of projects to help poor countries and industries reduce emissions. French President Emmanuel Macron, who's also using the event to raise his international profile, did not invite Donald Trump after he announced the US would withdraw from the Paris climate accord. 

Slovenia's prime minister is unable to attend the Paris summit because of bad weather, with strong winds and torrential rains hitting the country this week. Meanwhile, freezing conditions have affected much of north-west Europe, with the Netherlands and Belgium blanketed by heavy snow.

[12 December 2017 12:49 · Lizzie Dearden]

Today's weather is set to affect football supporters at tonight's Premier League matches. 

Chelsea has said its club train taking supporters to the away game in Huddersfield has been delayed by an hour and will take a diverted route. The club is warning supporters planning to drive to the match that the M1 between Junctions 37 and 38 will be closed from 8pm this evening.