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 13:17 · Samuel Osborne]

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for ice until 11am on Wednesday, covering large parts of the country, including the Midlands, Northern Ireland, Wales, the eastern coast of England and parts of Scotland.

Met Office spokesman Oli Craydon told the Press Association: "It will be a chilly night ahead but probably not quite as cold as last night.

"The front moving from the west hails some more milder temperatures. So in the South West, places like Bodmin, there could be 6C or 7C, so not freezing, but as we move further east London could go down to 2C.

"And as we go into areas where snow remains, like Birmingham, it is struggling to get above freezing today and could be minus 2C overnight.

"There's still a little bit of snow around so that could melt away or freeze again and there is rainfall coming in from the west, so where that falls on very cold roads that can form ice very quickly, providing treacherous driving conditions.

"It's a bit of a grey morning tomorrow morning and it will be falling as rain rather than snow, with the exception to that being in high areas of Scotland. We might see wintry showers at lower levels but nothing that's going to settle."

[12 December 2017 13:46 · Samuel Osborne]

[12 December 2017 14:23 · Samuel Osborne]

The Central Motorway Police Group has warned drivers to expect long delays on the southbound M5 near Birmingham after a lorry trailer became detached from its cab in icy conditions.

Pictures posted on Twitter by the CMPG showed the trailer blocking all three lanes of the motorway near junction 4.

A spokesman for the CMPG said the driver of the lorry suffered minor injuries and an investigation into the cause of the accident had been launched.

[12 December 2017 14:59 · Samuel Osborne]