© AFP/Getty ImagesTractors remove snow from the ground at Manchester Airport
- Temperatures plunge to -16C in Scotland and -9C in England
- 12million drivers expecting to begin Christmas getaways today
- AA attends about 3,000 breakdowns since midnight across the UK
- EasyJet cancels at least 20 flights in and out of London airports
- Nine weather-related deaths reported across Britain since Monday
The mercury plunged to -16C overnight in Tulloch, Aberdeenshire - the coldest place in the UK - while the Hampshire village of Odiham recorded England's lowest temperature of -9.6C.
The continuing freezing weather comes as 12million drivers in the UK are expected to attempt to travel to family and friends for Christmas, staggered over today and tomorrow.
But with travellers forced to contend with a cocktail of fog, ice, snow and cold, many now face the prospect of not reaching their destinations in time for Christmas Day.
An AA spokesman said: 'We're expecting the Christmas getaway to start in full swing now, as long as the conditions don't change again.
'After the last two days, people will probably be a lot more cautious but that's probably a good thing as there is still a lot of snow and ice about.
'We advise motorists that it's important to consider the weather and traffic reports along the whole journey and people shouldn't underestimate the conditions, so make sure you carry all the essentials in case of breakdown or accident.'
Between midnight and 3pm today, the AA attended 12,000 breakdowns across the UK.
The motoring organisation said it expected to attend 18,000 breakdowns by the end of the day - more than double the 8,500 call-outs it normally receives at this time of year.
A coach crash in Cornwall overnight brings the death toll from the freezing weather in recent days to nine.
Two women were killed and 47 injured when the coach, which was bringing passengers back from a Christmas lights attraction, overturned on an icy road.
In Northamptonshire, wildfowlers Paul Litchfield, 30, and Philip Surridge, 42, drowned as they tried to rescue their labrador from a frozen lake yesterday. The pair, who were hunting for a Christmas goose, died after wading into Brightwell Lake, near Ringstead.
In Sale, Greater Manchester, recovery worker Denis Livesley, 60, was killed as he tried to rescue a car that had crashed in a snowstorm on the M60 motorway.
In nearby Bolton, a man died after falling through ice while going to rescue his dog. Adam Littleford, 43, plunged through the ice at the High Rid Reservoir near Lostock.
In Basingstoke, Hampshire, a van passenger was killed when a deer smashed through the vehicle's windscreen during a snowstorm. Malcolm Brown, 32, from nearby Bramley, died instantly.
On the island of Lewis, Scotland, 35-year-old electrician Donald Martin froze to death after locking himself out of his home after a Christmas party.
And Brian Metcalfe, 21, died after slipping on ice in Kendal, Cumbria.
In South Wales, a lumberjack survived after being trapped under a tree overnight in sub-zero temperatures.
The forestry worker, 40, was found barely conscious by a man walking his dog near Ammanford, Carmarthenshire. Firemen winched the tree off the man and he was taken to hospital suffering from severe hypothermia.
This morning there were more delays and cancellations at airports across the UK.
© Louise BoyleClose call: A Ryanair plane slid off the runway at Prestwick Airport this morning but no one was injured
Southampton Airport was forced to close its runway this morning because of ice but has now reopened, with scores of delayed flights.
At Heathrow, where temperatures overnight dropped to -5.3C, British Airways cancelled flights because of the fog.
The budget airline easyJet cancelled at least 20 flights to and from the South-East, including ten at Stansted, eight at Gatwick and two at Luton.
The total rose to 36 flights when services at Bristol, Liverpool and Glasgow were included.
A message on Easyjet's website said the company 'sincerely apologises for the disruption'.
The airline scrapped 180 flights yesterday because of the weather and more than 200 on Monday, stranding hundreds of passengers overnight at Luton.
Eurostar said it was operating about two thirds of its normal service today, but asked passengers who intended to travel today not to go to its London terminal at St Pancras until after 1pm.
© AFP/Getty Images
A spokesman said: 'We will be running services tomorrow and we are confident that there will be sufficient seats for everyone who wants to travel before Christmas. We are very sorry for the inconvenience caused to passengers and will continue to provide regular updates.'
Eurostar is expected to run about two thirds of services tomorrow and on Boxing Day, although there will be no services on Christmas Day.
Luton airport said today that it was open, but warned some flights were subject to delay and cancellation.
Gatwick airport also said it was open and the runway was operating as normal, but advised passengers again to contact their airline for the latest flight information.
Manchester airport was fully operational today after anticipated heavy snowfall failed to materialise overnight.
A spokesman said: 'The forecast was poor but we escaped the bad weather.
'There remains the possibility of delays due to other airports not being able to take aircraft. Passengers should check their flights with airlines before setting off.'
Domestic rail services were again hit by the wintry conditions. There were around 30 cancellations on Southern train services between London and the south coast this morning.
In Scotland, there were rush-hour delays between Glasgow Central and Edinburgh and Lockerbie due to signalling problems in the Carstairs area.
On the roads, police in Kent and Sussex issued warnings about icy conditions following a series of collisions.
The most serious in Kent was on the London-bound carriageway of the A2 near Canterbury between a van and a car.
A number of other collisions followed, leading one car to leave the road and land on its roof.
In a separate incident, a bus with 14 passengers on board left the road between Bridge and Bishopsbourne in Kent, although no one was injured.
In Sussex, police received more than 150 calls reporting crashes or roads impassable due to ice between 3am and 10am.
The most serious collision in Sussex involved nine vehicles on the A23 at Bolney just after 8.15am, which closed the road for four hours.
In Edinburgh the city centre was brought to a standstill this morning as blizzard conditions affected visibility leading to gridlock.
A Lothian and Borders spokesman said: 'It is chaos at the moment. We would urge people to stay off the roads until it clears.'
Hampshire Police warned motorists to take extreme care on the roads after rain hit freezing roads causing treacherous conditions.
The force said the Southampton area was badly hit with numerous reports of road accidents including at least six on the M27 that skirts the city to the west.
Local radio was reporting that some lorries drivers had pulled over to the hard shoulder of the M27 because it was too icy to continue.
Dorset also has icy conditions that are causing some accidents in the Bournemouth area.
Up to 20 cars were involved in accidents caused by ice on the A35 Tolpuddle bypass near the Bere Regis roundabout, police said.
Officers have closed the east-bound carriageway of the road but there are no reports of serious injuries or motorists trapped.
A spokesman for the Highways Agency, which is responsible for gritting motorways and major trunk roads in England, said it was closely monitoring conditions this afternoon, with continuous salt treatment on high-risk routes.
'We are experiencing localised problems across southern and south-west England as a result of the forecast band of rain showers falling on road surfaces that are already below freezing,' he said.
'Our service providers are re-salting roads as the band of showers moves through, but driving conditions remain difficult.
'Drivers are advised that if they decide that they must travel to take additional care, in particular leaving sufficient distance between vehicles so that they can brake and stop safely.'
Meanwhile, at the Port of Dover passengers were urged not to travel there unless they had a ticket.
Ticketholders were still being advised to check availability with their operator.
Transport Secretary goes on holiday while Britain struggles in snow
© Oli Scarff/PA WireLord Adonis is currently on holiday in Austria
Outraged travellers called for him to return immediately and tackle the worst crisis to face him during his time in the post.
Lord Adonis, 46, has gone to a luxury Austrian resort with his family and left his deputy Sadiq Khan to face the mounting fury over the failure to grit roads and miserable response to iced-up railways.
Shadow local government minister Bob Neill said: 'With snow causing chaos across Britain it is alarming that the Secretary of State is on holiday abroad.
'He should be putting the problems of people in Britain's communities first and head home to help resolve the crisis.'
One driver caught in the chaos said last night: 'He didn't need to go abroad to go skiing, he could have gone to Basingstoke.'
Weather forecasts show that on the Austrian slopes Lord Adonis can look forward to three days of snow with temperatures of around 2C.
A Department of Transport spokesman said: 'Andrew Adonis is monitoring the impact of bad weather on transport extremely closely while on a short family break over Christmas.'
You gotta be kidding me!
Is JKRowling writing this stuff going on in Britain or what? It seems so with these names as symbols. She seems to be setting up the evil Death Eater scenes very well, now where is Harry and the gang? They must still be stuck out in that Forest of Dean! Damn! Why can't our 'heroes' have such cool names like Lord Adonis!