Snow and ice causes trouble across parts of England

Heavy snow and freezing rain have caused travel chaos up and down the country. Some areas reached minus 11 Celsius, and a rare amber health alert is in place for all of England until Wednesday.

A number of airports have been severely affected, with Liverpool and Leeds Bradford Airport forced to shut runways this morning, and delays continuing into the afternoon.

Birmingham Airport suspended operations for several hours overnight, and Bristol and Manchester diverted flights – one landing as far away as Paris.

There have been problems on the roads too, with the A66 in Cumbria and County Durham closed between the M6 and A1M.

The A1 Southbound was blocked by a lorry and there have been several collisions reported in both directions of the M5 in the South West.

Meanwhile more than two thousand homes across Wales and parts of southern and central England have been left without power.