COLDEST NIGHT IN THE UK SINCE 2012 WITH TEMPERATURES DOWN TO -15.4C
Snow in Throwleigh, Dartmoor. image by Kay Wild.
Snowfall and icy conditions gripped large parts of the UK after temperatures plummeted as low as -15.4C.
A pivoting system of wintry weather resulted in much of southern England and Wales waking up to more snow and ice after the coldest night in the UK since 2012.
However, some locations missed the snow completely and fears of significant coverings were unfounded.
A low of minus minus -15.4C was recorded just before midnight at Braemar in the Scottish Highlands.
Had it fallen more than 0.2C lower it would have surpassed the low of -15.6C set in 2010 - but it was still the coldest temperature recorded since 2012.
Summary of what’s happened so far...
Ice and snow disrupted travellers and closed schools on Friday morning as the UK had its coldest night since 2012
Temperatures in the Scottish Highlands plunged to a low of -15.4C (4.3F) just before midnight
Met Office downgraded amber snow warning for central and southern England to yellow warning after worst of snow
Fresh yellow warnings for snow and ice issued for Saturday and Monday
Cancelled and delayed flights from Cardiff and Bristol airports left queues of rugby fans racing against time to reach Paris for Six Nations opener
Bournemouth and Newquay airports also experienced early disruptions
Trains on Southeastern’s network running to restricted winter weather timetable
Motorists were stranded for 12 and a half hours on the A30 in Cornwall.More than 100 people spent the night at a pub on Bodmin Moor
More than 1,000 schools closed for the day, with the worst affected areas including Wales, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire
Several vehicles became stuck on the A690 between Durham and Sunderland, with Northumbria Police asking others to avoid the area
Rugby fans delayed at Cardiff and Bristol airports
Due to adverse weather, Cardiff Airport announced there is some disruption to scheduled flights.
Welsh rugby fans trying to get to Paris for the Six Nations are stuck in the airport.
Ex-Wales captain Sam Warburton was one of the passengers due to fly on the cancelled 9.30am flight to Charles de Galle, PA reports.
At Bristol Airport, one rugby fan, Leon Brown, said he was due to fly out at 2pm but had received a text to say it had already been cancelled.
Continues below
Jamaica Inn hotel opens its doors
The hotel on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, placed a number of mattresses on the floor for more than 100 motorists seeking shelter in the severe weather conditions.
People were left stranded and forced to abandon their cars after heavy snowfall hit the A30.
Stranded motorist Paul Drye said: "People were still arriving until the early hours of the morning, people who had left their cars and walked, a couple miles some of them."
The remote 18th-century pub was made famous by Daphne du Maurier's novel.
Kenneth Mc Donagh from the Donegal Weather Channel
2019 CALENDAR NOW ON SALE