MOTORISTS were stranded in blizzard-like conditions today after worse than expected snowfalls struck across Britain.
Icy road warnings also applied to much of Scotland, which saw widespread freezing temperatures overnight.
Forecasters expect the snow to clear to the south through the day, but there may be more showers in the Highlands of Scotland.
Yesterday
the latest bout of wintry weather affected mainly Northern Britain.
Around 2in (5cm) of snow was recorded in Dalmally, Argyll and Bute, with an estimated 4-5in (10-12cm) thought to have fallen in higher areas.
Traffic Scotland issued warnings on routes in Strathclyde, Grampian, the Highlands and Tayside.
Up to 3in (8cm) of snow landed overnight near Okehampton, Devon, forcing more than 50 drivers to abandon their cars on the A30 and others to wait as long as an hour while roads were cleared.
Elsewhere, train companies were forced to defend their operations as thousands of commuters faced delays and cancellations on routes into London, where there were few wintry showers but "low temperatures" brought some services to a standstill.
The A38 in Devon was closed at the Splatford Split junction at around 4am due to very heavy snowfall and Highways Agency snowploughs were called in at Haldon Hill and Telegraph Hill near Exeter.
The roads were opened around an hour later.
Cars and lorries were stuck on the A361 North Devon Link Road in the Tiverton area, with some sections of the road closed and major routes in Dorset were also closed and impassable due to the snow, including the A35 near Dorchester, the A37 towards Yeovil, the Ridgeway at Weymouth, and roads around Bere Regis, Wareham and Blandford.
Other parts of Somerset – especially around Taunton – and West Dorset also saw some sizeable flurries overnight, making for difficult driving conditions.
The Highways Agency said: "Delays are likely to be severe and drivers are strongly encouraged to avoid the area or postpone their journey if they can."
A spokesman said agency gritters had been running a "full winter service" in the region overnight to try to keep roads open.
Nikki Berry, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said forecasters had not been expecting as much
snow.
"The worst hit was Devon and Somerset, and it is possible we had up to 8cm in some parts.
"That was more than we expected. Some drivers had to wait for around an hour while the road was cleared."
Meanwhile, all Southeastern trains between the Kent coast and East Sussex into London were cancelled before 9am and many others, including some Southern services, were disrupted due to the low temperatures.
Both operators said a combination of freezing temperatures and rain meant a "heavy frost" and ice had formed on the conductor rail, the so-called "third rail", and prevented them from running services.
Southeastern spokeswoman Sarah Boundy said: "We try our best but despite our best efforts, if there's thick ice, we're just not able to run a train service."
She admitted it was a "very frustrating morning" for passengers but insisted: "We do the best with the infrastructure we have."
Asked if they ought to be able to cope with poor weather, Ms Boundy said the third rail system "will cause problems" when there were icy conditions or snow, but fared better than the overhead wire system in high winds.
MeteoGroup said temperatures in Kent and Sussex ranged between –2C (28.4F) and 2C (35.6F) overnight.
On Southern trains, some lines became impassable due to the "heavy frost" and several trains also became trapped when they lost power, blocking more lines.
A spokeswoman said precautions – including putting trains into "ice mode" and running "ghost trains" overnight – were taken, but "many" services were "subject to alteration, delay and cancellation".
She added there were "knock-on effects across the network".
Both firms apologised to passengers for the disruption, which comes just a month after snow brought the capital to a virtual standstill.
Line problems were experienced on Southern-operated services between Redhill and Tonbridge; Brighton and East Croydon; East Croydon and East Grinstead; Purley and Caterham and services from the Sussex coast into London Victoria and London Bridge.
