UK weather: Met Office issues severe snow warning as rush-hour chaos engulfs Britain
Travellers warned to check ahead after snow hits overnight
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Ice and snow has disrupted travel on Friday after the UK braced through the coldest night in seven years.
Southern England woke up to ongoing sleet and snow and the Scottish Highlands recorded a low overnight temperature of -15.4C.
More than 100 people were stranded overnight in the Jamaica Inn pub on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, due to snow blanketing the A30.
The Met Office‘s amber warning for snow and ice – its second-highest level – was issued for London until 11am, with yellow warnings still in place across much of the rest of the UK.
Flights were cancelled at Heathrow and Bristol airports while Southeastern and Transport for Wales warned of timetable alterations. Northern Ireland and Scotland are expected to miss out on wintry showers that will persist into the evening for the rest of the country.
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Rail operator Southeastern – covering London, Kent and East Sussex – has asked commuters to try to make plans to leave work earlier, or later, ahead of a hectic rush-hour this evening.
The winter timetable is in effect, so peak services are expected to be busier.
Eurostar has cancelled the 4.01 London to Paris train and the 19.06 Paris to London service.
The Met Office has issued a yellow severe weather warning for snow across south and east England, western parts of Wales, northern Scotland and Northern Ireland.
It warns of possible delays, injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces and potential power cuts.
The runway at Bristol Airport has re-opened and will run with a full flight schedule throughout Saturday, the airport said on Twitter.
Flight disruption at airports in Cardiff and Bristol has left queues of rugby fans facing a race to get to Paris ahead of the evening's France vs Wales Six Nations opener.
Ex-Wales captain and BBC pundit Sam Warburton was one of the passengers due to fly on the cancelled 9.30am flight from Cardiff Airport to Charles de Gaulle, while fan Leon Brown's axed flight forced him to put his two game tickets up for sale.
More snow is forecast going into the weekend, and though it is unlikely to be as heavy, there is a danger of untreated, treacherous ice covering paths and roads.
A fresh yellow warning for snow and ice covering large areas of the UK took effect from noon on Friday until the same time on Saturday.
It covers northern Scotland, most of Northern Ireland, the eastern coast of England and the west coast of Wales.
A separate warning for ice is in place for the southern counties between 1pm on Friday and 11am on Saturday.
The Met Office has said snowfall will continue to move slowly southwards throughout the evening, with a further accumulation of 2 to 3cm likely. Hills could see an additional 3 to 7cm of snow.
Conditions will be largely bright and cold through Saturday but a widespread hard frost and freezing fog are forecast for the early hours of Sunday, the Met Office forecasted.
Thousands of schoolchildren are enjoying an extended weekend after hundreds of schools closed their doors on Thursday and Friday.
Friday's closures included more than half of Bristol's schools, more than 300 in Buckinghamshire, more than 150 in Cornwall and scores across Oxfordshire.
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