Councils blasted in gritting row
Thousands of people have endured more travel misery as local councils were accused of failing to grit roads.
As Eurostar trains ran for the first time in four days, domestic rail services were again affected by the weather, while road and air travellers were also hit.
The AA said it had had its busiest night for breakdowns in 25 years and that by 8am on Tuesday it had around 6,500 breakdowns pending, with 700 coming in every hour.
Having himself endured some of the dreadful driving conditions in Basingstoke, Hampshire, on Monday, AA president Edmund King accused local authorities of "not acting sooner and more thoroughly" to treat ice and snow-bound roads, adding: "Some key roads have not been gritted at all."
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 on Monday 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.
The Local Government Association rejected "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: ""The whole transport network has been struggling over the last 24 hours, from trains, to planes and motorways, but major local roads have generally been kept moving."
On the rail netwrok, there were delays of up to an hour for passengers travelling into Marylebone station in London from the South Midlands and from areas to the north west of London. The bad weather also led to delays of around 50 minutes in rail services in the Lancaster area, while the Southeastern train company ran a Saturday service.
Luton Airport, was shut overnight and opened at 6.30am on Tuesday, but a number of flights were cancelled and others delayed. EasyJet also axed a number of flights at Gatwick and Stansted Airports.
At Heathrow, 24 incoming and 27 outward flights were cancelled. These were mainly short-haul flights, including some operated by British Airways. Manchester Airport was operating, but with some delays and cancellations. There were also delays at Leeds Bradford Airport.
