Grit and salt not applied on time for heavy snow.People are angry.Thousands are stranded.Cars abandoned at road side.

* AA reports busiest night in 25 years - 700 breakdowns coming in every hour today
* 2,000 motorists were trapped by the snow on the Basingstoke ring road
* More than 100 people spend the night in Buckinghamshire department store
* Eurostar resumes limited service - four days after its trains were crippled by cold
* Delays and cancellations at major airports including Heathrow and Manchester
* Overnight temperatures drop to -14C in the Scottish Highlands and -9C in Cheshire



Too little too late? Lorries spread grit on the snowbound A41 slip road at Tring, Hertfordshire

Stranded: Vehicles abandoned by the side of a road following overnight snowfall in Basingstoke

Parked up: There were delays and cancellations at Luton Airport following heavy snow overnight

Uncomfortable: A passenger sleeps on the floor after her flight is cancelled at Luton Airport

Snow slumber: Passengers at Luton Airport sleep in a hammock

Frosty reception: A policeman stands outside the door of Number 10

Stranded: Thousands of people were trapped in their cars in Hampshire last night, with many forced to spend the night there after roads became impassable

Abandoned: Commuters in Basingstoke return to their cars this morning after being forced to abandon them on main roads last night after snow and ice caused havoc

This way to France: Stranded travellers are directed to the first train out of King's Cross St Pancras International station this morning after a limited service resumed

• AA reports busiest night in 25 years - 700 breakdowns coming in every hour today
• 2,000 motorists were trapped by the snow on the Basingstoke ring road
• More than 100 people spend the night in Buckinghamshire department store
• Eurostar resumes limited service - four days after its trains were crippled by cold
• Delays and cancellations at major airports including Heathrow and Manchester
• Overnight temperatures drop to -14C in the Scottish Highlands and -9C in Cheshire

Thousands of drivers were trapped in their cars overnight and many more vehicles were abandoned as the big freeze once again brought Britain's transport system to a halt.

Chaos gripped the country after some of the heaviest snowfalls in a decade, with anger growing at the lack of gritting on the roads.

The AA, which experienced its busiest night for 25 years, said local authorities should have acted 'sooner' and 'more thoroughly' to make roads safe.
With motorists being forced to pull over as 'snowflakes the size of leaves' fell on motorways, scores of flights were also grounded and trains cancelled.

The AA's president, Edmund King, caught in Arctic driving conditions in Basingstoke, Hampshire himself, said some key roads 'had not been gritted at all' which made many impassable.

Mr King said that salting had not been planned properly for the big freeze.

'We are pleading with local highway authorities, who have claimed that they have no salt shortages, to use their supplies more effectively and in a timelier manner,' he said.

Transport Minister Sadiq Khan said he would be 'asking questions' about the difficulties in Basingstoke and Reading, Berkshire, where up to 2,000 motorists were trapped last night and many cars were abandoned.

Mr Khan said local authorities had enough grit and the issue was why the grit had not been applied.

But the Local Government Association (LGA) today rejected what it called 'unfounded accusations' that councils had been ill-prepared for the onset of severe weather and that they had been withholding salt from where it was needed.

Councillor David Sparks, chairman of the LGA's transport and regeneration board, said: 'Councillors and council workers are drivers too and understand how frustrating and distressing some drivers are finding this week's severe weather.

'Councils know how important it is to keep Britain moving, even in the worst conditions. In some areas yesterday they were hampered by the perfect winter storm that saw heavy snow fall as people were heading home, delaying gritters in traffic.'
Even those who chose to walk to work this morning faced treacherous conditions on footpaths - and the prospect of an even tougher journey home tonight. Forecasters said the problems could worsen this evening.

Tim Thorne, a Met Office forecaster, said: 'Temperatures are going to remain very low and drop to minus three overnight, so roads and pavements will become very dangerous.

'During the day, temperatures are also going to remain very cold, so ice and snow will remain in a lot of places.'

The AA said it received the highest number of rescue call-outs in 25 years overnight but was unable to gain access to major routes such as the M25 and M4 in the South East for hours due to slip-roads being blocked by abandoned vehicles.

It attended more than 22,000 call-outs as the snow and icy conditions caused a 60 per cent increase in accidents.

AA spokesman Gavin Hill-Smith said: 'It was carnage on the roads, with abandoned cars strewn everywhere. None of our patrols could get on to the M25 or M4 last night.'

Paul Watters, also of the AA, added: 'Thousands of drivers have been forced to spend the night trapped in their cars. We are beginning to become concerned at the level of resources being thrown at these snow and ice problems.'
Today the AA said it was receiving around 700 breakdown calls every hour.

Essex Police dealt with almost one weather-related call a minute at one stage last night, with more than 50 crashes.

David Yeo, a photographer from East London, spent more than seven hours travelling from Bristol to London on the M4.

He said: 'The motorway was complete chaos. Snowflakes the size of leaves were coming down. People were having to get out of their cars to remove snow that was building up.'

The lowest overnight temperature recorded was minus 14C (7F) at Tulloch Bridge in the Highlands of Scotland. In England, there was an overnight low of minus 9C (16F) in Woodford, near Stockport in Cheshire.

As Britain woke to a fresh blanket of snow this morning, airports and rail operators announced further cancellations and delays.

Budget airline easyJet said the hangover from yesterday's bad weather had led to scores of flights being cancelled from Stansted, Glasgow and Edinburgh airports this morning. All its routes from Luton and Glasgow have been axed today.

British Airways was 'strongly' advising passengers to check their flight status before setting off today.

At Heathrow alone, there were 51 cancellations - 24 incoming and 27 outward flights. These were mainly short-haul flights, including some operated by British Airways.

BA said it was cancelling a number of flights out of Glasgow airport this morning.

Staff at Gatwick were working to clear a backlog this morning after reopening the runway last night, while Luton airport reopened at lunchtime, but passengers warned they face long delays and some cancellations.

Southampton airport, which is also expecting demand from passengers unable to secure a place on Eurostar, is open this morning. However, travellers are advised to check with their airlines and allow extra time to travel to the airport.

EasyJet said it was axeing all of its flights from Luton and Glasgow airports this morning, while Hungarian low-cost operator Wizz Air cancelled seven incoming flights and seven departing services Luton.

Manchester airport - where passengers had to endure long waits just to reach the check-in desk - gave out food, water and blankets overnight to people stranded by delays.

'Staff are working incredibly hard to clear the ice and snow from our 750 hectare site,' a spokesman said, warning of further havoc.

The airport was open this morning, but with delays and cancellations.

Birmingham airport remains open this morning and 'fully operational'.

More than 100 customers, staff and children spent the night at a department store in Buckinghamshire last night after they were stranded by the snow.

The 54 staff, 30 adult customers and 20 children were provided with food and a bed at John Lewis in High Wycombe after heavy snow gridlocked local roads.

This morning the Royal Berkshire Hospital cancelled all operations and appointments and said it would only be treating emergencies. Friends and relatives of in-patients were asked to delay their visits until the treacherous weather conditions improve, while South Central Ambulance Service appealed for people not to dial 999 for non-emergencies.

Both Severn bridges between England and Wales have been closed today amid fears that huge sheets of falling ice from overhead gantries could smash through the windscreens of passing cars.

Gwent Police closed the Second Severn Crossing at around 10.30am, and the M48 Severn Bridge a few hours later.

In the North West, heavy snow forced a cathedral to cancel its Nine Lessons and Carols service for the first time in its history. A spokesman said Manchester Cathedral would close its doors at 2pm today, but he hoped Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve would be unaffected.

On the trains, Eurostar resumed a restricted service this morning for the first time since extremes of weather led to the breakdown of trains on Friday night.

A full train left London's St Pancras station at 7:41 a.m, while the 8:09 a.m. service left Paris Gare du Nord station with about 1,000 passengers still queuing for later trains.

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Eurostar said it hoped to run two out of three services after satisfactory tests on modified trains.

But it warned that the service, which carries about 40,000 people a day between Britain and continental Europe, is not expected to return to normal until December 28.

Eurotunnel said its cross-channel car shuttle service was running a standard service, but with very heavy traffic levels expected throughout the day.

There were delays of up to an hour today for passengers travelling into Marylebone station in London from the South Midlands and from areas to the north west of London.

A broken-down train at Old Hill in the West Midlands led to delays of around 50 minutes for customers of the Chiltern and London Midland train companies.

The Southern train company ran services under a revised timetable today, with reduced frequencies.

The bad weather also led to delays of around 50 minutes this morning in rail services in the Lancaster area, while the Southeastern train company ran a Saturday service.

Buses replaced trains between Sittingbourne and Sheerness-on-Sea in Kent while there were no services between Inverness and Kyle of Lochalsh in Scotland.