Rail operators urge passengers not to travel as big freeze and flooding forecast to continue into weekend
Rail operators are advising people not to travel as they are set to close lines as disruption due to wintry weather is set to continue into the weekend.
London Waterloo, the UK's busiest train station, will close at 8pm on Friday as services on South Western Railway wind down from 6pm.
With the extreme weather already linked to a number of deaths, forecasters have warned the UK "is not out of the woods yet" - with a number of flood warnings in place.
A Network Rail spokesman said: "Owing to the continued extreme weather conditions we are asking people not to travel across the South Western Railway network today unless absolutely essential.
"Services across the route will also be stopping early this evening.
"We thank passengers for their patience as we manage these extreme conditions and anyone who has to travel today should check National Rail and South Western Railway websites."
Southeastern also urged passengers not to travel anywhere on its network until further notice.
A spokesman said: "We are currently experiencing severe difficulties with the train service across our entire network as a result of freezing rain and ice forming on conductor rails, which our trains use to pick up power.
"We are currently advising passengers not to travel. This applies to all Southeastern routes - metro, mainline and high speed.
"We are working to bring services back into operation as soon as possible. We will provide further updates as soon as possible."
Virgin Trains East Coast pleaded with passengers "not to travel" on the entire East Coast Main Line between London or Newcastle and Scotland.
It comes after customers on board two South Western Railway trains were forced to wait 12 hours before emergency services reached them.
The 17.05 Waterloo to Weymouth and 18.24 Southampton to Poole services both broke down separately on Thursday.
After becoming one service, the train stopped again near to Christchurch where passengers were not released until after 6am on Friday.
A South Western Railway spokesperson said: "Owing to severe weather conditions across our network overnight and Friday morning, a number of services on the Southampton to Bournemouth line have incurred significant delays."
The Army was called in overnight to help evacuate trapped drivers in Hampshire and Somerset as emergency services found themselves overwhelmed.
Military personnel and vehicles have also been used to help transport NHS staff in Scotland to and from work.
So far a seven-year-old girl, two men, 46 and 60, and a 75-year-old woman have died in circumstances related to the cold conditions. A homeless man was found dead on Fridayafter sleeping rough in tent.
Two teenage boys were also seriously injured after high winds brought down a conifer tree on them in Blackley, north Manchester, with firefighters prizing them free.
Meanwhile thousands of homes are without power with high winds and snow hampering repair work.
Get the latest weather and travel updates where you are from your local ITV region:
Forecasters warned parts of the UK can expect further snowfall - with up to 50cm of snow predicted to fall over parts of Dartmoor Exmoor and south east Wales.
A red weather warning - the second in 24 hours - expired at 2am, but yellow warnings for snow are still in place for much of Scotland until 11.55pm on Saturday.
Temperatures will once again be below freezing for many parts of the UK during the day, with strong winds making it feel even chillier.
In Scotland, troops were called in to transport medics to and from Edinburgh's two biggest hospital's after a request from NHS Lothian to the Scottish Government.
Police in Glasgow North tweeted a picture of their patrol car driving beside a snowdrift as high as the vehicle and urged people to avoid the area.
ROAD CLOSURE
Balmore Road @ Lambhill Bridge to Boclair Road CLOSED due to 8 ft snow drifts - ROAD IS IMPASSIBLE. Attempts will be made to clear when possible
ALSO, WHEN THERE ARE CONES OUT DON'T MOVE THEM & DRIVE ROUND THEM!(Can't believe I am having to tweet that) pic.twitter.com/szq93peJEU
This is why Balmore Road is CLOSED (it normally has 2 lanes!)
They are as high as one of our cars, and that's as far as we can get up the road - they get worse.
PLEASE AVOID THIS AREA. pic.twitter.com/Fo7HkLQSE9
Eight flood warnings have been issued on the north-east, south-west and south coasts.
Christchurch, Hull, Sunderland, Whitley Bay, Land's End, Swanage and North and South Shields have all been put on alert across Friday and Saturday due to a combination of high tides and strong easterly winds.
The whole of the Republic of Ireland is also on red alert, valid until 6pm on Friday, after being hit by the worst snow in 35 years.
Devon and Cornwall Police have urged people to avoid all travel unless essential after reports of snowdrifts and flooding.
Trees have fallen in Gweek and Praze, with snow drifts and abandoned vehicles blocking roads, and emergency services are dealing with reports of flooding in the Lizard area.
Five properties have flooded in Porthallow, due to high tide, strong winds and run off from melting snow.
Devon County Council shared a picture of a gritter that had overturned on the A379 but said nobody was injured.
The council said on Twitter: "It's still really icy out there! This is one of our gritters on the A379 on Labrador Bends near Shaldon.
"Fortunately everyone unharmed but we're a gritter down until it can be recovered."
An MoD spokesman said: "The MoD helps in cases of extreme weather when we receive a request from our civilian authority colleagues.
"There are three UK standby battalions held at high readiness to respond to UK contingencies and emergencies, including support to local authorities."
The extreme weather has seen health boards cancel non-essential operations and outpatient appointments on Friday, while NHS 24 has described its operations as being "stretched".
Princess Royal Maternity Hospital in Glasgow also saw tiles fly from its roof under pressure from the extreme weather.
Volunteers from Milnrow in Rochdale braved the conditions to take hot drinks, food and blankets to those who were stranded on the M62 in Manchester overnight as wind speeds reached over 90mph.
Motorists on the M62 became stuck between junctions 21 and 22 after winds reached up to 90mph.
Dave Webb, 37, said he had been on the motorway for 10 hours.
"We came to a halt at about 5.30pm last night and have been here since," he said.
"There hasn't been any snow since about 6.30pm but the wind is pretty strong and gusting."
More than 1,250 flights to or from UK and Irish airports were also cancelled on Friday.
Airports experiencing cancellations include:
- London Heathrow - 358
- Dublin - 338
- Edinburgh - 120
- Glasgow International - 77
- Bristol - 62
- London City - 54
- Manchester - 40
- Cork - 38
- London Gatwick - 38
- Birmingham - 34
- Newcastle - 22
Western Power Distribution figures showed around 4,000 properties in Wales and south west England had been left without power on Friday morning as a result of 38 incidents.
And thousands of homes were without electricity in the north west.
Power company Electricity North West said power outages had affected parts of Stockport, Oldham, Preston, Blackburn, Bolton, Manchester, Carlisle and other parts of Cumbria and parts of Derbyshire, where 5,000 households are without power in Buxton alone.
Nearly all train operators warned of cancellations and disruption again on Friday and hundreds more flights were cancelled.
Motorists across much of the UK have been warned against driving unless absolutely essential.
An estimated 10,000 people across Ireland have been left without phone and internet access.
EIR said the severe weather has caused damage to its pole, cable and mast infrastructure, knocking out access to broadband, telephone and mobile service.
Co Limerick has been worst hit with 7,000 customers left without services in the areas of Hospital, Pallasgreen, Murroe, Croom and Kilfinane.
Irish Water has warned people to conserve water to reduce the risk of interruption to supplies.
With treatment plants running at full capacity people have been asked not to run taps and not to use dishwashers or washing machines.
Theresa May has thanked the emergency services for keeping "vital public services going" during the extreme weather.
NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens praised NHS staff for ensuring patient care has continued despite the weather conditions.
He said: "In these adverse circumstances NHS staff have taken extraordinary measures to get into work and look after patients.
"Once again the NHS is showing that we are there for people when they need us and that's all down to our staff, so a huge thank you to everybody across the NHS who is going the extra mile for people at this highly pressurised time."
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