Snow brings Britain to a standstill

Yep. It's happening all over again.Travel chaos after a heavy snowfall across most of southern Britain today.It couldn't have happened on a worst weekend. This weekend before Christmas should be the busiest travel and shopping weekend of the year. Instead the bad weather caused misery and a massive travel disruption just about everywhere.

Both Heathrow and Gatwick airports were closed and roads were gridlocked. It was so bad in the midst of the snow storm that police closed several access roads to Heathrow because of dangerous driving conditions. So even if the airport had been open, it would have been virtually impossible to get there by car. In fact, Heathrow Airport was advising people not to even attempt the trip.

Heathrow airport will remain shut until until at least 06.00 Sunday morning. When it does open again, "There will be further cancellations & delays for airlines tomorrow due to the knock on effects of the severe weather." (info via Twitter)

Gatwick Airport was closed for five hours but it's open, with some delays and cancellations.

The snow is very pretty but it really does bring everything to a standstill here. Drivers were urged not to travel unless the journey is essential but of course most people just ignored the warnings. I think people are desperate to get their Christmas shopping done and to buy food (panic buying).

Were you affected by the bad weather today? Did you have plans to travel out of the UK or expecting family members to arrive? Did you have your flight cancelled?

What are your thoughts about how this country copes (or rather doesn't cope) with snow and ice? I know there are warnings about icy roads for tomorrow. It would make sense for the gritters to get out during the night and make sure all the roads are gritted and/or plowed but it seems that there aren't enough gritters to go around.

By the way, it's probably going to be the coldest English December since records began in 1910, according to the Met Office.