Post date: Dec 18, 2010 2:22:50 PM
Heavy snowfall causes travel chaos the weekend before Christmas with some airports closing and traffic jams across the UK.
GREATER LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (DECEMBER 18, 2010) ITN - Fresh snow brought much of Britain to a standstill on Saturday (December 18) on what is traditionally the busiest weekend for shopping and travel in the run-up to Christmas. Most of western Britain, Northern Ireland and northern Scotland suffered blizzards while the south was also disrupted in what Transport Secretary Philip Hammond described as "extraordinary" conditions.
Passengers faced delays and cancellations as two of the country's busiest airports were affected.
Aaron Marsh, who had arrived at Heathrow to travel to Denver, Colorado felt frustrated with the snow.
"Pretty frustrating at this point, trying to get home before Christmas," he said.
Airline pilot for Qatar airways, Sameer Yousef said he would have to wait until he reached the airport to see if his flight would take off.
"A lot of flights have been cancelled. We will find out at the airport what the situation has been like," Yousef said.
British Airways cancelled all flights from London Heathrow and all European and domestic flights from London Gatwick between 1000 GMT and 1700 GMT on Saturday.
Another passenger was optimistic she would get home.
"I am being very optimistic, I have great faith in Aer Lingus pilots. I have great faith in the system. And we are going to get home today to my children," Yvette MacEwan said.
Heathrow Airport Spokesman, Andrew Teacher said runways were operational but things could change quickly.
"As it currently stands, both of our two runways are operational and our airside teams have been working through the night to ensure that everything has been de-iced and all the airways and taxi ways are clear. But obviously its a very changeable situation, we've got a lot of snow coming down and there is a very real possibility that things may change very quickly," he said.
Arctic conditions also hit rail and road travel, with the media reporting that hundreds of motorists were left stranded in their cars in freezing conditions overnight in the northwest, with a series accidents reported. Police were handing out food and water to those stranded before the motorway reopened late morning.
It is the third winter in a row that Britain has been left largely snowbound, and hit by record low temperatures.