Weather puts English league schedule into near-shutdown

Liverpool's clash against Tottenham tomorrow and Chelsea's trip to Hull City today last night became the latest additions to a growing list of sporting cancellations across the UK, joining other top-flight fixtures at Sunderland, Fulham and Burnley. The pitches at all five grounds would have been playable but there were safety concerns over the areas immediately surrounding the stadia as well as problems affecting transport.

A Liverpool spokesman said: "The safety of our fans is paramount and an assessment of both the prevailing conditions and the weather forecast for the next 48 hours has been made in arriving at the decision to call off the match."

Hull had been confident earlier yesterday that their 12.45pm televised encounter against the league leaders could go ahead after working hard to clear the area, but another heavy snowfall in the afternoon beat them.

Sunderland v Bolton, Fulham v Portsmouth and Burnley v Stoke were the other matches to fall by the wayside.

Fulham had felt it was too dangerous for fans to gain access to their Craven Cottage ground for their meeting with Portsmouth. A club statement read: "Saturday's fixture against Portsmouth at the Cottage has been postponed due to the adverse weather conditions which are not expected to improve over the next 24 hours. The safety of supporters is of paramount importance."

Sunderland's game was called off following a recommendation from the city's Safety Advisory Group. A spokesman said: "The early timing has been deliberate in order to avoid many thousands of people embarking on unnecessary and potentially hazardous journeys."

It was a similar story in the Coca-Cola Football League as the heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures ravaged today's programme. Only four games remain in the Championship – at Cardiff, Coventry, Crystal Palace and Derby – and two in League One, at Leeds and Norwich. All games in League Two are postponed.