United Kingdom: Snow and icy conditions to cause travel disruption Dec. 11

Event

Snow and icy conditions have continued to cause widespread disruption to travel on Monday, December 11. While snowfall has eased, the UK Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for ice across central and southern England and northern Scotland. Freezing overnight temperatures on December 10 are expected to cause dangerous road conditions throughout Monday.

The adverse weather has resulted in closures at schools in Birmingham, Powys, Flintshire, South Wales, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire, Essex, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, and Leicestershire. Some schools in London will also be closed.

Heavy snowfall resulted in widespread disruption to travel throughout December 10, with temporary suspension of operations at Luton (LTN) and Birmingham (BHX) airports, and significant delays at London Heathrow (LHR). While operations have mostly resumed, significant cancellations and delays are likely to affect all flights to and from the aforementioned airports. Birmingham Airport has advised of continued disruption to flights on Monday as it deals with a backlog of cancellations and delays. Stansted airport has announced that it is fully operational, and does not an anticipate further delays to flights. British Airways (BA) continues to warn of heavy disruption; as of 10:00 (local time) on Monday, approximately 50,000 British Airways passengers remain stranded in the UK and at other destinations worldwide following significant cancelations and delays at  Heathrow, Stansted, and Birmingham airports.

While most main line services are operational in and out of London, rail travel continues to face delays and cancellations across the country. Significant overnight delays were reported on the Eurotunnel due to freezing conditions. The London Underground is expected to be operational on Monday, though minor delays have been reported on the Metropolitan Line and no service between Surrey Quays and New Cross/Sydenham to West Croydon on the London Overground line.

Localized power outages have been reported across the country, including in Oxford and Wales; some 400 homes are reported to remain without power, mostly in Chepstow and Monmouth areas.

The Dover to Calais ferry has seen some cancellations, which are set to continue throughout Monday.

Advice

Individuals in the UK should monitor the situation, visit the Met Office website for updated weather alerts and adhere to any advice issued by local authorities. Those in affected areas should prepare for significant travel delays, and check the status of services before undertaking any planned journey.