UK weather: Snow and ice cause travel disruptions

Many Britons woke up this morning to see a blanket of snow as the Met Office has issued warnings of ice, fog and snow for much of the UK.

Temperatures fell well below freezing overnight and combined with wintry showers it has created icy conditions.

The lowest temperature last night got down to -15.6C in Braemar, Scotland, which makes it the coldest night of the year and the coldest since February 2021.

Railways are severely disrupted and airports have been forced to close their runways. Travellers have been told to check their travel plans before setting off.

Travel chaos this morning

Southeastern Railway has warned passengers not to travel on Monday morning due to the weather disruptions.

In a statement, the rail company said snow and ice caused “severe disruption” across the whole Southeastern network on Sunday evening, and services would continue to be disrupted this morning.

Lines currently suspended include:

Woolwich Line – Expected to be closed until at least 07:00 because of snow and ice
Bexleyheath Line – Expected to be closed until at least 07:00 because of snow and ice
Sidcup Line – Expected to be closed until at least 07:00 because of snow and ice
Hayes Line – Expected to be closed until at least 10:00 because of snow and ice
Hastings Line – Expected to be closed between Tunbridge Wells and Hastings until at least mid-day, because of a signal fault, as well as snow, ice and fallen trees on the line
Medway Valley Line – Expected to be closed all day because of snow and ice
Sheerness Line – Expected to be closed all day because of snow and ice

Trains will start later on the following routes, and services are expected to be severely disrupted this morning:

Bromley South Line
Sole Street Line
Maidstone East Line (services between Maidstone East and Charing Cross will not be able to run all day)
Paddock Wood Line – No services running between London and Tonbridge
High speed line via Ashford
High speed line via Gravesend

Disruption on railway lines

The bad weather is affecting quite a few railway lines this morning.

Here are some of the latest updates we have from National Rail:

Southeastern Railways are advising passengers not to travel this morning
Disruption to/from London Liverpool Street until 08:00
No London Overground trains between Watford Junction and London Euston until approximately 09:30
No trains between Dundee and Aberdeen expected until 10:15
Disruption through Haymarket expected until 10:45
Disruption between Glasgow Central/Neilston and Kings Park until 10:30
Disruption between Weymouth and Bournemouth expected until 11:00
Disruption through Feltham expected until 12:00
No trains between Wrexham Central and Bidston until the end of day
There are also disruptions on the London underground.