Although Bricklehurst Manor primary school in East Sussex was forced to close today, the children were still set homework.

Headteacher Kate Elliott told them to "enjoy the snow and make a snow creation of their choice".

One parent called it "the best homework ever".

Laura Lea
BBC News

With so many trains being cancelled or delayed because of the snow, many passengers will be asking what money they can claim back.

Passengers received £74m in compensation last year, five times more than five years earlier, according to the Rail Delivery Group.

But the process is not always straight forward.

Image source, Getty Images

If your pre-booked train is cancelled or delayed and you choose not to travel, you are entitled to a refund on most ticket types.

Once an emergency timetable with reduced services has been put into action, passengers who buy on-the-day tickets are unable to claim compensation for a cancelled train as the train operators have given notice.

However, if the trains that are advertised to run are delayed by more than 30 minutes, you can still make a claim to the individual train operator under the delay repay scheme.

This process differs depending on the type of ticket you're travelling on and with whom.

BBC News England

Here are some wintry scenes as snow lays a white blanket over parts of England.

Image source, Caroline Lucas

Image source, Megan Taylor

Image source, Paul McGuire

Image source, Parkie Charlie

Laura Lea
BBC News

It has been one of the big questions asked by commuters today, especially those who saw little snow but still had their journeys impacted - why have so many trains been cancelled?

Compacted snow can turn into solid ice and can prevent points - which are what direct trains from one track to another - from working, according to Network Rail.

But it's not just snow that causes problems. Frozen rails can stick together, causing signals to stay red and stop trains.

Image source, PA

The UK's systems - especially in rural areas - are not designed for the extreme temperatures we're seeing this week, Tony Miles from Modern Railway magazine said.

"Network Rail go on advice from the Met Office," Mr Miles added. "It's better for companies to under-promise and over-deliver."

But Anthony Smith, chief executive of the independent watchdog Transport Focus, said blanket suspensions were "worrying".

"The industry needs to better communicate why such drastic action is necessary," he added.

The Mills family of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk got into the spirit of things on their school run this morning.

Andrew and Penny Mills dragged their children, Alex and Emily, along on sledges.

It left as quickly as it arrived. Londoners were filled with trepidation and giddy excitement at the prospect of snow in the Big Smoke.

Their wish was granted, for all of 10 minutes - the Beast from the East stayed around fleetingly before whisking off westwards.

The London Air Ambulance soon did away with the light dusting on its helipad.

Although it was short-lived, the little snow London had offered some beautifully Dickensian scenes.

Strict rules are needed to stop playground snowball fights descending into "winter anarchy", a former head teacher has said.

Geoff Barton, a head for 15 years and now general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said snowballs were a "part of childhood".

But he said they "can be dangerous" and rules needed to be in place so children knew what was acceptable.

His comments come after Ges Smith, head teacher of Jo Richardson Community School in Dagenham, appeared on Good Morning Britain to explain why he banned pupils from touching snow on health and safety grounds.

Mr Barton, who ran King Edward VI school in East Anglia, said staff needed to monitor the action "so we could have a civilised day of children hurling snow at each other rather than winter anarchy".

MPs are tweeting their views from parliament as snow hits Westminster including Conservative Anna Soubry, Labour's Sarah Champion, Scottish Secretary David Mundell and Ian Lucas - a member of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee.

All restrictions on routes served by Greater Anglia have been lifted, Network Rail says.

There may still be delays however as services are restored with a Greater Anglia spokeswoman saying: "Not all of the trains and drivers are where they need to be because of the restrictions."

Meliha Duymaz, route managing director for Network Rail Anglia, says: "I'd like to apologise to passengers who have had difficult journeys this morning and thank them for their patience."

A full timetable is expected to run on Wednesday.

Swathes of the UK have been battered by the Siberian snow storm, but for hours Londoners have barely seen a flake of the white stuff. But now it finally arrives in the capital.

Ben Ando
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

In Colchester passengers have faced a reduced service all day with probably half the number of normal trains running up to London.

Why, given conditions are not as bad as expected?

That's because Network Rail has to make decisions based on forecasts.

They didn’t want to run the risk of trains, full of people, becoming stuck in snow drifts in remote locations that no one could get to.

So they took the decision to offer the service the infrastructure could cope with.

Image source, AFP/Getty Images

The RSPCA warns fish pond owners that toxic gases can build up if their pond freezes over, which could kill fish or any frogs hibernating at the bottom.

If a pond has frozen over the charity advises placing a saucepan of hot water on the surface to melt a hole in the icy layer.

Pouring boiling water on to the ice or breaking it with force could harm the fish.

The Royal Horticultural Society suggests floating a ball on the water to delay freezing.

Chester Zoo may be closed to the public but its bears still managed to enjoy themselves in the wintry conditions.

Meanwhile, Blackpool Zoo shared a picture of a tiger appearing unperturbed by the snow.

BBC Sport

Three of Tuesday's scheduled Scottish football matches have been postponed following pitch inspections.

Brechin City v Dunfermline Athletic and Dumbarton v Inverness CT in the Championship have been called off but Greenock Morton v Livingston will go ahead.

In League One, Albion Rovers v Arbroath in League One has been postponed.

Image source, SNS

The charity, Glass Door, partners with churches in London to open emergency winter night shelters for homeless people.

In the daytime, the charity has a list of drop-in centres, external where homeless people can go to access meals, showers, laundry services and support.

Today, temperatures in the centre of London have hovered around 0C.

Members of the public can also report the location of anyone sleeping rough to StreetLink, external, so outreach teams can find them and direct them to an overnight shelter.

Image source, Getty Images

One woman in Boughton Monchelsea in Maidstone shared a photo which appears to show 22cm of snowfall being measured.

Kent, along with Surrey, Suffolk and Sussex, has seen some of the heaviest snow.

Knowsley Safari in Merseyside, home to rhinos, giraffes and these inscrutable camels, is another animal attraction to close because of the cold weather.

Image source, Knowsley Hall

Image source, Knowsley Hall

BBC Weather's Chris Fawkes gives a forecast for the days ahead.

Scottish transport minister Humza Yousaf says people should avoid travel in areas expected to be hit by heavy snow from Wednesday morning.

An amber alert is in force from 06:00 GMT and could be upgraded to red in the coming hours, with forecasters saying 40cm (16in) of snow could fall in the worst affected areas.

Image source, Met Office

A major route in Essex is closed after a crash involving 17 vehicles.

One person has been injured in the collision on the A120 between Colchester and Elmstead Market at about 10:00 GMT.

Essex Police says it is one of 30 crashes dealt with in just a few hours.