UK weather live: Travel updates as snow and ice cause school closures, cancellations at Heathrow and Gatwick and treacherous road conditions

At least 1,100 schools shut

The deep freeze forced more than 1,000 schools to close their doors today.

That included more than 400, where no schools opened their doors, at least 200 Gloucestershire, more than 300 in Staffordshire, and more than 100 in Shropshire.

In Wales, 71 schools were closed in Flintshire, 11 in Wrexham and 49 in Denbighshire.

The NHS is urging people to check in on older neighbours during the cold snap:

Passengers complain of 'total chaos' at Heathrow

Heathrow has said it is operating three-quarters of its full schedule as airlines deal with the knock-on effects of Sunday's heavy snowfall.

Passengers have shared images on Twitter of long queues and scores of suitcases lined up on Sunday evening, while others complained of a lack of information from the airport and airlines.

Among them was Beth Kanter, a non-profit and charities consultant from San Francisco, who said the British Airways flight she boarded was cancelled on Sunday after six hours on the tarmac.

She said she was told on the aircraft that the weather was "an act of god" and that the airline could not pay for a hotel as a result.

She said: "[They were] saying they were waiting for de-ice. Then, they cancelled our flight. Then it took me four hours to get through the immigration line. On the plane, the pilot said that we would be able to collect our baggage in baggage reclaim. That was the 'good news'.

"Then, after standing in line and finally making it through immigration, the baggage area was total chaos. There was baggage on the baggage claims but none of the signs indicated what the flights were.

"There was a huge long line - it must have several hundred people in it - stretching from baggage claim number three to the last one where customer service was. There was one person there.

"Then I noticed a man with a BA sweatshirt come out of a back office with a paper with the list of flights and baggage claim numbers - this was after being in baggage claim for hours, trying to figure out what the hell to do."

The consultant, whose luggage "filled with holiday gifts" was lost in the chaos, said she asked for information on her flight which was "not on his list", but eventually received a rebooking for Monday.

"They announced that everyone should go home and come back tomorrow to deal with their bags...people were really pissed off and it was stressful" she added.

The 60-year-old said she filed a report on the BA website, and managed to book a hotel 30 minutes from the airport as she "did not want to spend the night" there.

She added that "no one" at the airline was answering the phones and described their website as "useless" and said customer service on Twitter was "lame".

Fellow American Kenton Keithly, 65, had expected to fly from Newcastle to Heathrow and then to San Francisco on Monday but the connecting flight to the London airport was cancelled on Sunday night.

He had to rebook to fly on Tuesday with his partner.

Mr Keithly, of Woodland, California, said both the airport and airline had not learned from similar circumstances in 2010, when he had to spend a night on the floor of departures at Terminal Five.

He said: "I love flying BA, they are incredible in the air but lousy on the ground.

"Speaking with other passengers in the line last night, we all agreed that BA has learned nothing from seven years ago and Heathrow have failed to address the issue of having enough de-icers to cope with demand when needed."

The small business owner, who has had to reschedule appointments in the wake of the delays, added: "It must have cost them far more in compensation and rebooking than it would to buy the necessary preventative equipment.

"A word to the wise, when you travel long or short haul, factor in delays and cancellations.

"Britain obviously doesn't do well in winter. Everything breaks down."

Employers should not force staff to make hazardous journeys to work

National Labour union TUC called on employers not to force staff to make hazardous journeys into work, saying firms in areas of the country affected by the snowy conditions should have put out advice to their staff on what they should do when snow, ice and a lack of public transport prevents them getting to work.

Policies should also cover what parents should do if schools close and they have no alternative childcare, said general secretary Frances O'Grady, adding: "It is essential that employers don't force staff to make dangerous journeys for the sake of presenteeism.

"For many employees the bad weather will have made their commute virtually impossible, but thankfully many bosses now have 'bad weather' policies so staff know what is expected of them."

Snowplough helps widow get to husband's funeral

A gritter lorry fitted with a snowplough was called into action to help a widow get to her husband's funeral.

The vehicle was needed to clear the snow in North Leigh, near Witney, Oxfordshire after the woman could not get out of her street.

Liam Walker, county councillor for Hanborough and Minster Lovell, had organised a group of volunteers with shovels to help.

He said: "I put out an appeal on Facebook and a few residents came out to help and then the gritter joined us.

"What was a very small thing for the council to do was a really big thing for the lady and her family.

"It's a great example of the community coming together to help someone out."

Across Oxfordshire the county council's fleet of 25 gritters have been out ensuring the roads remain safe for motorists.

In the last 24 hours they have covered more than 6,000 miles of Oxfordshire roads.

Paul Wilson, the council's winter operations manager, said: "The aim remains keeping our main road network clear. We watch the forecast intently and respond accordingly.

"Fixing the snowploughs to the gritters is not something that we have to do very often in Oxfordshire and we can often go a full winter without it needing to happen."

Western Power, which supplies energy to the Midlands, South Wales, and south-west England, says it has 7,000 customers still without supply. About 6,500 of those are in the West Midlands.

The firm said it had restored energy to 99,500 properties, including 59,700 in the West Midlands.

More than 750 properties in Oxfordshire are still also without power, says Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN).

The energy firm said it had now restored supply to 55,000 customers in the county, as well as Wiltshire and Berkshire, after outages caused by the weather yesterday.

SSEN said more than 850 staff working on faults and had taken more than 24,000 calls from customers since yesterday morning.

Call to compensate airline passengers

Consumer group Which? has urged British Airways to ensure passengers stranded at Heathrow were not left of pocket and said the disruption was further evidence the industry should automatically refund customers whose plans are affected.

Alex Neill, managing director of home products and services, said:  “Passengers who have had their British Airways flights cancelled at short notice will question why they have been left stranded when many other carriers continue to run a relatively on time schedule of flights from Heathrow.

"We welcome BA confirming to us that it will rebook passengers on alternative flights and, importantly, that this will include booking seats with other airlines so that passengers can travel as soon as possible. Where legally obliged, it must also inform passengers of their rights and proactively pay compensation and reimburse reasonable out of pocket expenses.

“This is yet more proof of why automatic compensation needs to be introduced."

Record volume of breakdown calls 

A record number of drivers called breakdown recovery services for help this morning, according to Green Flag.

More than 13,800 motorists required assistance between midnight and midday today, the company said, adding it expected that figure to "rise dramatically by the end of the night".

About 49,800 calls were made to recovery providers in the previous three days.

Spokesman Simon Henrick said: "As of 12pm today, 13,800 breakdown calls have been made across the country since midnight and we expect this figure to rise dramatically as the conditions worsen throughout the day and night.

"This is following an extremely busy weekend where there were 49,800 breakdown calls during Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

With the cold weather and icy conditions causing difficulties for drivers across the country, it is incredibly important that motorists stay safe on the roads.

"By following safety precautions such as ensuring tyres are up to the job, checking fluids, and allowing extra time for braking, drivers can ensure they do everything possible to avoid an accident on the road."