Armed forces personnel across the country are on standby to help ensure essential NHS staff can get to work during the extreme weather conditions.

In Lincolnshire, a squadron of 10 4x4 vehicles and 20 personnel has been sent by RAF Wittering to help transport staff to hospitals and health workers to vulnerable people in the local community.

Similarly, military assistance was requested this morning in Shropshire and Devon, with the Royal Irish and the Royal Marines respectively helping transport hospital staff and other health workers in military vehicles.

A request by NHS Scotland last night saw eight 4x4 vehicles and 20 personnel deployed overnight to transport staff to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and the Western General Hospital.

Two lorries, a van and five cars were involved in a pile-up on the M20 motorway in Kent.

The police suspect freezing rain on the road contributed to the crash and have asked drivers to be extra cautious.

One casualty was reported.

In another crash - also on the M20 - an overturned vehicle has closed the road at junctions 3-4 in both directions, according to Kent Highways.

Both crashes are likely to affect freight and passengers heading for the Dover ferry terminal or the Eurotunnel.

Football fans in some parts of the UK have been left in limbo as to whether their weekend fixtures will take place.

Fans of League One's Scunthorpe United have volunteered to clear the ground in time for Saturday's match against Oldham Athletic.

But there is no joy for Torquay or AFC Fylde fans, as their match has been suspended.

Swathes of matches across Scotland will also be suspended.

The Met Office has updated its weather warnings for the whole of the UK.

The majority of the UK remains under a yellow warning, meaning there is a risk of ice and snow.

Earlier this week, parts of south-west England and south Wales, as well as parts of Scotland, were under the highly unusual red warning, signifying potential risk to life.

Southern Rail has advised passengers to complete their journeys before 15:00, as conditions on the lines are expected to deteriorate.

It comes as South Western completely shut down its services, after passengers were stranded on a train overnight near Christchurch in Dorset.

Nearly all train operators are experiencing disruption today, with no services to Scotland on Virgin Trains.

Overnight dozens of people were stranded on a South Western train between Waterloo and Weymouth.

The passengers spent more than 12 hours on the train with little food, water or power.

Earlier BBC News spoke to one of the passengers, Robert Luther.

Mr Luther said there was "very little power, no heating - and everyone's pretty cold and miserable".

"We're all dressed up in hats, coats, scarves... as if we were going on a skiing trip."

The passengers were eventually rescued at 08:30 on Friday.

Fire crews from Penzance have been assisting with significant flooding in Porthallow, Cornwall.

It comes after Storm Emma battered the south-west of England and other parts of the UK.

Penzance Fire Station said the flooding was caused by "high river levels, large seas and high winds".

Areas of south-west England and south Wales were predicted freezing rain - rain which freezes - following snow blizzards overnight.

BBC News correspondent Jon Kay fell foul of the phenomenon, and it doesn't look like it's going to shift off his windscreen anytime soon.

Craig Lewis
BBC East

Around 150 homeless people enjoyed breakfast at Northampton Home Centre this morning.

The day centre, which is open for 21 hours a day during the cold snap, took in 34 rough sleepers last night.

Chief executive Robin Burgess says those people "are in a very poor condition indeed".

"They are very, very cold. They are very wet," he said.

"The wind chill has really got to people, but they are also just worn out, exhausted by trying to find somewhere to shelter."

After brutal weather caused mass disruption in the North East, the Environment Agency have declared a number of flood warnings in coastal areas, due to strong winds with high tides.

Similar warnings are in place in south-west England.

A major incident has been declared in Wiltshire, as hundreds of people remain trapped on the A303.

The authorities in the county have asked for the military to assist them in helping drivers who found themselves stuck on the road overnight, near the village of Mere.

BBC correspondent Robert Hall, who was trapped on the road last night, said: "The A303 is littered with vehicles that could go no further, blocking the plough and gritters trying to re-open the road in blizzard conditions."

An Edinburgh bus driver, who narrowly missed a serious crash, has spoken about dicing with catastrophe when she swerved to avoid a car on a freezing road.

Bus driver Charmaine Laurie said her training kicked in, as she swerved to avoid the stationary car in the Fairmilehead area.

Footage of the near-miss was caught on the dashcam of a nearby van and went viral on social media.

The back wheels of the double-decker bus skidded on the snow as she tried to avoid smashing into the Mini.

Image source, Good Morning Britain

"I really didn't have much time to react," she said.

"My training just kicked in - and a lot of luck, to be honest.

"My back end started going out and I just knew to take my foot of the brake and try to glide through it - and luckily, it went well."

Sarah Gosling
BBC News Online

With hills frozen and many roads impassable, vehicles have been abandoned across the region.

Not many of them are quite the size of this double-decker bus left in a street in Dartmouth though.

Snow chains were also left discarded in the street.

Passengers who spent a night trapped on a train outside Christchurch in Dorset have been rescued.

Commuters on the South Western train from Waterloo to Weymouth left London at about 18:00, but found themselves stranded on the train for about 14 hours, with little food, no power and blocked toilets

South Western Rail said a rescue train was required in order to get them out.

Elsewhere, in the same area, people were stuck on a CrossCountry train travelling to Bournemouth overnight. Shane White said the train kept cutting out, while trying to get power from the lines.

On Twitter, Shane added that the train had picked up more than 200 people rescued from multiple trains on the same line.

Image source, BBC News

As heavy snow continues to cause disruption throughout south east England, a tractor owner in Taunton, Somerset, is helping hospital staff into work.

Hugh took to the roads this morning in response to a Facebook message from his wife stating that police were looking for people to help assist staff struggling to reach Musgrove Park hospital.

"I thought they would struggle to get in, having seen the conditions last night," he told BBC News.Speaking from his tractor, Hugh said he contacted the hospital, who responded to his call "minutes later, with a couple of names".

His current passenger, Lisa - the fourth of the day so far - said she would not have been able to make her four-mile journey into work had it not been for Hugh's unconventional transport service.

She described the journey as "very nice" and said she was ready for a busy day at work.

Avon and Somerset Police are urging people only to travel if absolutely necessary.

Volunteers who went to the aid of people trapped in their cars on the M62 near Greater Manchester took warm milk for a five-week-old baby.

Image source, Twitter

Volunteer Eleanor Kelly, 19, said about 30 people from Milnrow trekked through the snow to take supplies to the trapped motorists - including to a father with a baby and toddler in the car.

Freezing temperatures, high winds and snowfall overnight have led to treacherous driving conditions.

Here are the the main roads to avoid this morning:

• The M2 is closed eastbound, external between junctions 3 and 4 due to collisions and severe weather
• The M20 and the M2 have seen , externalmultiple crashes this morning, take care on both
• On the M1 northbound, two lanes have been closed, external between junctions 14 and 15, while one lane has been closed southbound on the same stretch due to a collision involving an HGV
• The M40 is currently closed between junctions 13 and 14, external with gritting taking place
• Restrictions at Hopwood Services on M42, external with two HGVs stranded in the snow, cars can access but only just
• The M40 is closed between junctions 12 and 13, externalwith gritting taking place
• Gritting will soon be taking place on the M6 southbound, external between junctions 12 and 13, two lanes will be closed
• The M62 is closed eastbound, external between junctions 20 and 22, and between 22 and 24 due to severe weather and "many stranded vehicles"
• The A66, A628, and A69 main cross-country roads will remain closed, external until at least this afternoon due to snow
• The A1 will remain closed for most of the morning, external between A1068 and Scottish Borders due to snow
• The A628 remains closed in both directions, external between Tintwistle and Flouch due to severe weather
• The A15 Humber Bridge is closed, external to "high-sided and vulnerable vehicles" due to high winds
• The A303 Devon is closed both directions between the A30 and A358, external near Marsh. Do not travel in the area unless it is essential
• Hundreds of drivers were stranded overnight on the A31 in Hampshire. The military, coastguard and fire service helped rescue some of the passengers. Traffic began moving slowly at 05:00
• On the Isle of Wight a bus has blocked a street in Sandown after skidding on the snow and ice

South Western has stopped its services on Friday and urged people not to travel, after adverse weather conditions have severely affected rail and road travel.

It comes as one of its trains, with at least 50 passengers on it, was stranded overnight near Christchurch in Dorset.

Passengers have been stranded on the service, which left Waterloo for Weymouth at about 18:00, for more than 15 hours.