Freezing conditions hit travellers

Journeys of just a few yards took hours in the icy conditions

Travellers across England faced further chaos as temperatures again dropped below zero.

Overnight snow showers, plus snow and ice left over from the previous day, left many roads treacherous and thousands of schools closed on Thursday morning.

Passengers using South East Trains were warned of the worst freezing conditions for more than 20 years.

One train was evacuated after its undercarriage caught fire. The company said the incident was caused by the train drawing more power than usual from the icy rails.

Services including Thameslink, Silverlink, West Anglia Great Northern, South Eastern, South West Trains and MerseyRail were also subject to delays and cancellations.

Some overground sections of the London Underground had no services for the second morning running.

In Birmingham, the city council was forced to close all its schools because of continuing traffic problems.

Trams delayed

On Wednesday night ,many commuters were trapped for several hours as the city's main roads were gridlocked.

The standstill was made worse by a number of accidents and slush washing the salt off the roads.

Icy conditions caused scores of accidents

Sheffield's city centre suffered similar problems during the rush hour, when Supertram services were also disrupted.

Elsewhere on Wednesday, the bell tower on a 140-year-old Berkshire church collapsed after being struck by lightning and catching fire.

In Cumbria, high winds tore the roof off a roadside building, with the falling debris damaging a passing car.

There were flight cancellations or temporary closures at a number of airports including Birmingham, Bristol, Gatwick, Heathrow, Nottingham East Midlands and Stansted.

Motorists using main routes in Derbyshire and Leicestershire were warned of delays due to overnight accidents and breakdowns.

Wintry showers

Supermarkets in the region reported customers buying emergency supplies of food.

More snow also fell in East Yorkshire overnight and cars were abandoned on some roads.

Breakdown services reported double the amount of call-outs than normal and the Highways Agency said gritters had been out all night on major routes.

Forecasters said the country had now seen the worst of the weather, predicting a mainly dry day on Thursday with some wintry showers in East Anglia and the North West.