Cold weather disruption continues

Severe weather continues to cause disruption across parts of the UK, as forecasters warn the cold temperatures will last until mid-April.

Thousands of people in western Scotland are without power for a sixth day and further snow has caused difficult road conditions.

In Northern Ireland, the RAF is delivering emergency food supplies to remote farms for a second day.

Isle of Man farmers are searching for livestock buried in the snow.

And thousands of animals are thought trapped in snow drifts in Northern Ireland.

Current daytime temperatures across the UK are wallowing at around 2-3C.

The BBC weather centre said temperatures currently look set to remain below average until about mid-April.

Temperatures at the moment are around 5 to 10 degrees Celsius below normal levels for this time of year.

The Met Office has warned that temperatures will remain below average until about 20 April.

• The severe weather conditions are still having an impact across many parts of Northern Ireland, where up to 10,000 animals may have been entombed in snow drifts. A 'phenomenal' number of sea life has been washed ashore by strong winds. Seven schools are closed

• Further snow is hitting many parts of Scotland, with icy roads causing travel disruption

• More than 1,500 homes on the Isle of Arran and in Kintyre in Argyll are without power. Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) says it hopes to restore power supplies to all but 450 homes by Wednesday night

• The weather has been blamed for the death of hundreds of birds, including puffins, razorbills and guillemots, in Scotland and northern England, according to the RSPB Scotland.

• In Wales, a number of roads are still closed with many impassable after last week's bad weather. Ongoing problems have seen the suspension of many local services in some areas, such as waste collection

• Isle of Man farmers are set to receive emergency support as the search continues for thousands of livestock buried in the snow. Power has now been restored to nearly 700 homes on the island

• Some 1.7 million Britons are heading abroad over the Easter weekend, according to the Association of British Travel Agents. The group said the most popular last-minute destination was Spain

Communities cut off

Kenneth Young, who is without power on Arran, told the BBC he was angry at the lack of communication from the energy company SSE.

He said the firm had not communicated with islanders when it hoped to restore power.

Mr Young, 37, who is caring for his 86-year-old grandmother on the coastal village of Lamlash, said they were still without full power and did not expect it to return until next week.

The residents of Allerton Upper Green, West Yorkshire, are completely cut off from the main road

"We are cooking with gas and gran gets confused, she wants toast and keeps trying to put the electric heating on," he said.

Though the ferry connecting Arran to the mainland is operational, Mr Young said: "I could get off the island if I needed to but I can't take my gran away - it's a big enough job to get her to the shops and the doctor."

Brian and Geraldine Clark, who live in Allerton upon Green, just outside Bradford in West Yorkshire, told the BBC that snow had blocked access to the main road, trapping residents since Saturday.

Mrs Clark said: "Our community is blocked off. We have rung the council every day but they've just said there are no resources, no money to clear the snow."

She said the only way out of the village was a 20 minute walk through a field. The nearest shop is a further 20 minutes, she added, which some elderly people were not able to do.

While bets are being laid on the chances of a White Easter, the Met Office said it did not expect any fresh snowfall except on areas of higher ground. The Easter weekend would be cold but largely dry, forecasters added.

As April draws to a close, however, it said temperatures should begin to recover, particularly in the west of the country.