Our colleagues at Radio 5 Live have been hearing from listeners about how they have been affected by the travel chaos following snowfall and freezing temperatures that have swept across the UK.

Image source, .

Louise in Hayes went to a local pub for a meal on Sunday and got stuck in gridlocked traffic for seven and a half hours.

“The traffic wasn’t moving at all, there was no sign of anybody to help… people were just abandoning their cars and we just sat there,” she says.

Louise says her husband had to walk 20 minutes to get to the end of the traffic jam. “My husband started directing the traffic,” she says, to help with the gridlock.

“There could have been people there who needed medication and there was just nobody there to help… We just felt totally abandoned,” she says.

Tony in Hertfordshire was one of the people stuck on the M25 on Sunday. He says: “What should have been an hour and a half journey turned into an 11-hour trip.

“This was an absolute blizzard and within 10 minutes, the motorway just came to a complete standstill and that’s where we remained for nine hours,” he says.

“You fear for your life in a way when vehicles are starting up, wheels spinning, they can’t get any grip on the road and massive lorries by the side of you.”

Passengers have been stranded at London Stansted Airport after flight delays and cancellations due to the bad weather.

Yesterday, the airport was forced to close its runway.

Some flights have since resumed, but many have been cancelled or pushed back.

Read more here.

Image source, Reuters

The AA says that snow has created a "beautiful winter wonderland", but the weather has created a nightmare scenario for travellers on road, rail and air.

“In areas of the country impacted by snow and ice, drivers should only travel if they really need to. Before setting off, make sure all snow and ice is cleared from windscreens, mirrors, and lights," AA President Edmund King said in a statement.

“Most importantly, people need to drive to the conditions which means slowing down, while allowing more space between cars in front and allowing more time to travel. Take some warm clothing, charged mobile, food and drink," he said.

He also advised drivers have a sack or piece of carpet in the boot "so that if you do get stuck you can place it in front of your driving wheels to get traction".

“The AA has extra patrols out there but obviously with a 25% increase in breakdowns and slower travel conditions it is taking longer to get to some breakdowns," King added.

Image source, PA Media

The search is continuing at an icy lake near Birmingham after children fell in on Sunday afternoon.

Four children were taken to hospital in a critical condition after being rescued, but Richard Stanton from West Midlands Fire Service said that searches are ongoing due to reports that there were more people who had been on the lake.

"The initial reports had stated that there were up to six people that had gone into the water so search operations have continued throughout yesterday and will continue today," he told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Asked if he knew that two were still missing he responded: "It hasn’t been confirmed to us as yet. But the initial reports and videos from social media indicate that there were a number of children that had been on the ice on the lake."

He said that he could not comment on whether missing children had been reported, and directed questions to police.

You can read more on this story here.

Marita Moloney
BBC News Live reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Many of us will be waking up to frozen landscapes - and the need to de-ice our cars.

But it's not just a matter of pouring hot water on the windscreen and driving off.

In fact, this is exactly what you shouldn't do. Pouring hot or boiling water on a frozen windscreen can crack the glass, or quickly freeze again on the screen.

Instead, the AA says you should turn on your car - ensuring the wipers are off to avoid damage - and then turn on the warm air blower on the windscreen.

You should also turn on your rear windscreen heater, plus the air con to ensure your windows don't fog up.

The next step is to clear any snow with a soft brush, before moving on to using a scraper and de-icer on the car.

The AA also advises motorists to steer clear of any hacks they might have heard of - including using half a potato on the inside windows to stop them steaming up.

Simon King
BBC weather presenter and meteorologist

Temperatures are still well below freezing in many areas.

In the West Midlands, where four children were rescued from an icy lake, the temperature is -2C (35.6F).

It’s going to stay cold all day here with a maximum temperature only getting up to 1 or 2C at best this afternoon (as you can see in the forecast map for 16:00 today above).

This will be replicated across the UK, with maximum temperatures barely above freezing.

Where snow is already on the ground in Scotland and southern England, it’s going to stick around for much of this week and continue to bring icy conditions on untreated surfaces.

Away from the snow and ice, freezing fog may cause some disruption where it persists today in central and some north-eastern areas of England.

EasyJet is “doing everything possible” to ease the disruption for passengers affected by flight cancellations and disruptions, a spokeswoman for the airline said.

She said airlines operating to and from the UK today are experiencing some disruption due to adverse weather, with a number of cancellations at Luton and Gatwick airports which are both affected by snow.

“We are doing all possible to minimise the disruption for our customers, including providing hotel rooms and meals for those passengers affected by the cancellations," she said.

“Customers on cancelled flights have been provided the option of a free transfer to an alternative flight or a refund."

Flights were also affected yesterday as snow closures affected Manchester, Liverpool, London Gatwick and London Luton airports with some flight cancellations and diversions.

Barra Best
BBC News NI Weather Presenter

Image source, COLEEN WEBB

Northern Ireland has recorded its coldest night of the year so far as the cold snap continues into a second week.

Katesbridge in County Down fell to -9C through the early hours of Monday morning.

That is the lowest temperature in almost two years when, coincidentally, temperatures fell to -10C also in Katesbridge on 26 January 2021.

A weather warning for fog and ice has been issued by the Met Office until 11:00 GMT.

Patchy freezing fog could linger in some valleys for most of the day as temperatures inland struggle to climb above 0C.

Visibility has been reduced to just a few hundred metres and below in some of the valleys.

The sub-zero temperatures are set to last into next weekend with daytime temperatures remaining below average for the time of year.

The section of the M25 that was earlier closed in both directions between junctions 23 and 25 has now reopened, National Highways has said.

"The snow has been cleared; the road has been re-treated and all lanes are now open," a statement said.

The agency added that earlier delays clockwise had now eased, but that delays of 90 minutes, with 11 miles of congestion, remain in the anticlockwise direction.

Dearbail Jordan
Business reporter

National Grid has ordered two coal plants to begin warming up in case electricity supplies to the UK are disrupted because of the cold weather.

The company said that while the two plants would not necessarily be used, "this measure should give the public confidence in Monday's energy supply".

The UK receives electricity via subsea cables from European countries including France, Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Higher demand in Europe could potentially disrupt the flow of electricity into the UK and would trigger the need for coal-generated energy.

Read more here.

Image source, snowgatecameras.co.uk

Temperatures plummeted to -15.6C overnight at Braemar in Aberdeenshire on the coldest night of the year.

Aviemore came in at -11.8C while Dalwhinnie clocked -11.5C.

A yellow warning for ice and snow covers the north of Scotland until 12:00 with the cold spell expected to last for 10 days.

A number of schools have closed for the day in the Highlands and ScotRail is reporting disruption to rail services.

Network Rail said icicles in tunnels caused overhead line and signalling faults at Edinburgh Haymarket before they were cleared by staff.

The company said it was dealing with signalling faults in several areas.

Meanwhile, snowfall caused the closure of the snow gates at the A939 Cock Bridge and the A939 Tomintoul.

BBC Scotland Weather reporter Kirsteen Macdonald said: "Cold weather isn't at all unusual for the time of year, but given that we experienced a record-breaking mild November, this continued cold spell may come as a shock to people, at a time of great worry regarding energy bills and the cost of living crisis."

Simon Calder
Travel journalist at Heathrow

It certainly is a nightmare out there.

On the railways, wherever you are heading, if it involves south-east England, then you really need to check your route in advance.

There are particular problems with the line from Kent going to London.

It is especially bad for anyone who was hoping to make rail journeys, particularly long distance ones, ahead of the rail strikes happening on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday this week. Cancellations for those rail journeys will start tonight from around 17:30.

Meanwhile in the skies, I have now counted more than 300 flight cancellations today.

At Heathrow Airport, British Airways has cancelled more than 70 flights alone to and from the airport, mostly on European and domestic routes.

At Gatwick Airport, more than 50 flights have been cancelled on EasyJet, and Luton Airport is also not looking great with around two dozen cancellations.

But at Stansted Airport, things are moving a bit, with a dozen or so cancellations.

People in Cornwall are being advised not to travel on Monday due to freezing weather.

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service said it dealt with more than 300 reports of road traffic accidents linked to ice over the weekend.

Cornwall Council's highways contractor is working around the clock to salt major routes throughout the county.

A number of schools have announced closures on Monday, with others choosing to delay opening times.

Read more here.

Snow has fallen across much of the UK over the last 24 hours, causing travel chaos across the country.

Ice and snow, as well as freezing fog and heavy frosts, are predicted to be widespread and severe for the week ahead.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Simon King
BBC weather presenter and meteorologist

Image source, Weather watcher/Stormchaserliam

It’s going to stay wintry all week.

Ice and further snowfall likely in parts each day this week with overnight temperatures well below freezing.

It’s still a way off, but the current thinking is that it’ll be Sunday when we start to get some milder air moving in.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on it though because as this warmer, moister air from the Atlantic moves in, it’ll hit the cold air in place and that’s a recipe for significant snow.

Stay tuned to the forecast through this week.

Demand on the Welsh Ambulance Service has "exceeded its capacity to respond" to calls, with some people being asked to make their own way to hospital.

"Extreme weather, coupled with a high call volume focused on falls and breathing issues overnight, has limited our capacity to respond safely and timely," said director Lee Brooks.

Meanwhile, police said icy conditions had caused a number of accidents.

The Welsh Ambulance Service has declared a "business continuity incident", external after receiving more than 2,000 emergency 999 calls on Saturday, a 17% increase on last week.

It said the NHS 111 Wales helpline had also received more than 10,000 calls, "the busiest day ever for the service", with icy roads affecting its ability to respond promptly to callouts.

Read more here.

Image source, PA Media

The Met Office has issued a weather warning for ice for the east Midlands, the east of England, London & south-east England.

"Lying snow and icy patches will lead to difficult travel conditions during Monday and into Tuesday," the warning says.

"Icy patches on some untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths - Some injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces."

You can see all the weather warnings on BBC Weather here.

BBC London Travel
BBC Radio London Travel

The snow and ice are causing severe disruption on London Underground services this morning.

Only the Waterloo & City Line has a good service, all other Tube lines are disrupted.

The new Elizabeth Line and the trams in Croydon are however reporting a good service.

For more travel follow @BBCTravelAlert, external

The bad weather is affecting quite a few railway lines this morning.

Here's some of the latest updates we have from National Rail:

• Southeastern Railways are advising passengers not to travel this morning
• Disruption to/from London Liverpool Street until 08:00
• No London Overground trains between Watford Junction and London Euston until approximately 09:30
• No trains between Dundee and Aberdeen expected until 10:15
• Disruption through Haymarket expected until 10:45
• Disruption between Glasgow Central/Neilston and Kings Park until 10:30
• Disruption between Weymouth and Bournemouth expected until 11:00

• Disruption through Feltham expected until 12:00
• No trains between Wrexham Central and Bidston until the end of day

You can find out more about rail travel disruptions here, external.

A family of four have been stuck in their car for more than eight hours without food and only one small bottle of water during an arduous journey home from London to Thame, Oxfordshire that has taken a lot longer than expected due to ice and snow.

They crawled along the M11 for more than four hours and were still stuck on the M25 when they spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast a little earlier this morning.

Mother-of-two Sam said she and her family left the O2 Centre in London last night at 23:00 after attending the Jingle Bell Ball and hadn't left their car since.

She said they passed countless broken down cars and lorries on the slow journey home and had been keeping their spirits up by playing Christmas songs.

It's a dangerous situation out there on the roads, so stay safe if you're driving this morning.