Sunday, December 19, 2010

This month is set to be one of the coldest ever recorded in the United Kingdom, as snow leads to millions of people’s travel plans disrupted.

One person at London Heathrow Airport said the grounding of aircraft, and disruption to rail services, had created “the Christmas from hell.” On one of the busiest weekends for travellers of the year, Heathrow and Gatwick Airports closed their runways and roads countrywide became impassable.

One person has already died this weekend after the ambulance he was being treated in crashed in Eastbourne, East Sussex. Meterologists warn that the conditions are unlikely to recede soon, adding that this month is set to be one of the coldest on record. Britain is not alone in Europe; airports in Germany, Italy, France and the Netherlands are similarly affected.

Wikinews today reports from the village of Flackwell Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, where villagers were buying essentials from the local supermarket, and roads were covered in six inches of snow. Wikinews journalist Paul Wace reported that councillors pledged to grit major routes, but the main road through the village was covered in a slushy mix of snow and grit, making travel extremely difficult.