Big freeze hits big games

Iain Blair, the secretary of the SPL, says continued disruption to fixtures may force them to consider extending the season. Four of Saturday's SPL games were called off due to weather-related problems, adding to several postponements earlier in December.

"It's not something we're looking at at this point in time," said Blair. "But if there's severe congestion and no other alternatives then it's something we have done once before."

Hamilton's home game against Celtic yesterday became the fourth casualty in the top flight after the Rangers-St Mirren, Aberdeen-Motherwell and St Johnstone-Dundee United clashes were postponed on Friday. Twelve games in the SFL were also called off.

In England, today's match between Chelsea and Manchester United was the most high-profile casualty. Yesterday's Barclays Premier League matches at Arsenal, Wigan, Liverpool and Birmingham all fell foul of the weather, and today's Blackpool-Tottenham and West Brom-Wolves games have also been called off.

In rugby, Glasgow's Heineken Cup match in France against Toulouse, originally postponed until today after the Scottish side's kit was lost at Heathrow Airport, has also fallen victim to the weather. Newcastle's Amlin Challenge Cup game against Exeter today has been moved 70 miles from a frozen Kingston Park to Galashiels in the Scottish Borders. The three British & Irish Cup matches involving Scottish sides Melrose, Ayr and Currie all fell victim to the freeze.

The weather also played havoc with racing, with all but one of yesterday's meetings off.