© The Daily Mail
- Two pensioners die after collapsing in their gardens
- Milder temperatures expected tomorrow but falling again on Sunday
- Short-haul flights from Gatwick cancelled until 5pm
- Petrol forecourts run dry as deliveries are held up
- Rail networks cancel services for the third day running
'Critical' shortages of petrol have been reported by the RMI Petrol Retailers Association, with remote areas being particularly badly affected.
Some fuel stations have also been accused of 'cashing in' on the crisis by increasing their prices - with one garage in Surrey putting up the cost of diesel per litre from £1.24 to £1.28 within the past four days.
The news came as snowfalls eased but temperatures plummeted even further, dropping -20.1C in Scotland and -7C in London and Birmingham overnight.
There is due to be some respite from the freezing conditions over the weekend.
Temperatures are set to plunge overnight, to a low of minus 7C in Scotland, but tomorrow will see a milder start with highs of between 5C and 8C expected in southern England and 4C in the Midlands and East Anglia.
It will feel colder again on Sunday as daytime temperatures dip slightly again to 2C to 5C in the south and 0C to 4C in northern England and Scotland.
The freezing temperatures make the country colder than Antarctica where the British Antarctic Survey's Rothera Research Station on the Antarctic Peninsula recorded a temperature of 0C.
Fears have also emerged today that the chaos to the transport network could mean thousands of children might not get their toys in time for Christmas.
Thousands of tonnes of toys, games and clothes ordered on the internet and due to be delivered from the Far East are being held in shipping containers as ports into Britain struggles with a backlog.
Today, AA President Edmund King said he was 'disappointed' by news that fuel retailers were profiting from the big freeze, amid reports that forecourts could run out of fuel by the weekend.
Food stores are also battling to keep their shelves filled with bread and milk as lorries struggle to negotiate the big freeze.
The combination of delivery delays and panic-buying has resulted in a surge in the sales of food essentials.
Meanwhile Marks and Spencer has reported a 121 per cent increase in demand for thermal clothing in the past week, while Waitrose said sales of car screenwash and de-icer were up 435 per cent and 608 per cent respectively on the same time last year.
Consumers have also been filling their trolleys with shovels and hot water bottles while Asda reported massive sales of de-icer.
Although a slight thaw is expected this weekend, the big freeze is forecast to continue into next week with the peril of icy roads replacing the snow. And after that, a deluge of flooding incidents is expected as the snow and frozen pipes start to defrost.
Meanwhile three pensioners have died in weather-related incidents across the country.
Lillian Jenkinson, 80, is believed to have collapsed in her garden in Cumbria and frozen to death yesterday.
The day before an elderly man was found dead in his garden, also in Cumbria, although it is not known how long he lay there.
And a 77-year-old man collapsed and died of a heart attack in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, on Sunday evening.
Dennis Horbury had gone outside after a gang of teenagers pushed his car out into a road as a prank, before suffering the fatal attack.
© Phil HannahRun dry: This 'No fuel' sign was stuck on top of a traffic cone at a garage near Almondbank in Perthshire today
It added that road tankers have been unable to leave the main terminals from two refineries in south Humberside - the Total refinery at Lindsey and the Jet (Conoco) refinery at Killingholme.
This was 'cutting the supply chain off at its knees', and there are similar problems at the refinery terminals at Grangemouth, near Falkirk and at Coryton on the Thames in Essex.
The association said fuel companies with facilities in the east of the country were reporting that they were at least two or three days behind normal delivery schedules already.
Chairman Brian Madderson said: 'We are close to a critical point in what is fast becoming a fuel crisis as well as a weather crisis.
'Acute problems of supply, particularly of diesel, are being reported by our rural members in the north east of England and eastern Scotland.
'A number of filling stations are already reported to be out of fuel. The crisis is now spreading south as the weekend unfolds.
'By the end of the weekend, tens of thousands of motorists could have no fuel.'
Commuters are facing a third day of travel misery today with rail services cancelled, planes grounded and treacherous road conditions.
Police in Kent, Hampshire, Cornwall and Scotland warned motorists not to drive unless it was absolutely essential, due to ice on the roads.
Gatwick Airport reopened after two days which saw more than 1,000 flights axed, but by mid-afternoon all short-haul flights had been postponed until 5pm today.
Overnight passengers on a Glasgow-bound sleeper train were stranded without heating for three hours when the brakes froze.
Commuter Hazel Coe, who was travelling from the Isle of Mull, told BBC 5 Live that 31 passengers were stuck with as temperatures fell to -14C.
Rail networks across the UK were still experiencing delays today with reduced services operating on many routes.
First TransPennine, SouthEastern, Northern Rail, Cross Country Trains, Eurostar and First Great Western networks were all experiencing delays today.
Anyone who doubted that Britain is in the grip of a whiteout was provided with proof from space yesterday.
A dramatic Nasa satellite image showed the nation almost totally blanketed in snow.
Yesterday the inevitable recriminations began as motoring groups blamed the chaos on 'napping' transport bosses who had failed to get gritters out in time.
© Haydn WestRailway tracks lie buried under a foot of snow at Buxted Station, Uckfield
He said the Highways Agency had invested £100million to deal with snow as well as building a 'large strategic reserve' of salt and grit.
However, he said abandoned cars had caused gridlock and stopped gritting lorries from doing their job.
The AA was incensed and said poor planning - rather than a lack of salt and snow ploughs - had caused vast tranches of the road network to seize up.
Mr King said: 'We may well have got some extra salt stocks in place but there is almost no point if gritters are not out and are not able to distribute it.'
Critics also pointed out that transport planners had 11 days to prepare for the cold snap.
The Met Office warned on Thursday November 18 of colder weather on the way.
Britain became a 'stay-away' nation as four out of ten workers decided not to go to work yesterday. And of those who did, nearly half arrived late.
The chaos was another kick in the teeth for the economy which is losing an estimated £1.2billion every day. Not that many schoolchildren were complaining.
With twice as many schools closed than on Wednesday, over a million youngsters were gifted a mid-week break.
Treacherous conditions in South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire saw lorry drivers forced to abandon their vehicles to sleep in a village hall.
Blizzard conditions caused dozens of accidents, including a six-vehicle pile-up on the M25 last night.
Some areas have seen the heaviest snow in more than 50 years. In Sheffield the weather station recorded 15in of lying snow on Wednesday - the deepest since snowfall statistics began being measured in 1954.
Anecdotal reports suggested this was the heaviest snowfall in the area for 100 years.
Yesterday the highest measured snowfall in the country was in Northumberland, with depths of between 30in and 39in on high ground.
The Met Office said the UK had not experienced snow on this scale in November since 1965.
Ambulance services in the South East said snow was 'significantly hampering' efforts to reach patients, while the number needing their help rose at the same time, by up to 50 per cent in London.
According to weathermen, the cold snap is the result of an unusually large area of high pressure sitting over the north mid Atlantic.
© North News & Pictures LtdUndaunted: Geordies (like these girls pictured in Newcastle last weekend) are famed for being under-dressed when braving the snow - but now even the police are warning them to wrap up warm
The icy conditions have prompted police in the North East to remind Geordies to wear coats this weekend.
Drinkers in Newcastle are famed for going out without a top layer and Northumbria Police was moved to issue a warning after temperatures dropped to well below minus 10C in some parts of the region.
There were fears that people wrongly-dressed could become dangerously ill if they had to wait for a taxi after a night out.
Temporary Superintendent Andrea Henderson said: 'People on nights out over the weekend should be aware of the very cold conditions and dress appropriately - bearing in mind that they may have longer to wait at taxi ranks and bus stops.
'It is a good idea before leaving home to make sure someone knows where you are going and to think about how you are going to get back.
'You should also have a fully charged mobile phone with you, with credit on it.'
Sue Gordon, acting executive director of public health for NHS North of Tyne, working on behalf of Newcastle and North Tyneside Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and Northumberland Care Trust, said: 'Everyone needs to take this cold weather seriously and look after themselves and others.
'Cold weather increases the risk of hypothermia for vulnerable people and can cause complications with other illnesses and long term health conditions.
'We are urging people to wrap up warm this weekend when they go outdoors as there are serious health risks to exposing themselves to the cold.
'People are particularly at risk from hypothermia when they've been drinking. Layering up is recommended, as well as wearing a hat and gloves.
'It's about getting a balance between a good time and common sense.'
Last year researchers at the International Center for Life in Newcastle said they were creating an experiment to see if women in the North had thicker skin that women down South, and could withstand the cold better.
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