UK snow: Schools and transport hit by disruption

More than 3,000 schools have been closed in England and Wales as a band of heavy snow affects most of the UK.

Transport is disrupted with flights at Heathrow, Bristol and Southampton airports cancelled and hazardous conditions reported on many roads.

Heavy snow is falling in Wales, where a rare Met Office red warning for severe disruption has been issued.

There is an amber warning for Northern Ireland and most of England, with snow also due in parts of Scotland.

There have been widespread school closures in England with over500 in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, and 300 in Norfolk, while 300 schools and colleges have been closed in Gloucestershire. In Wales, 1,200 schools have been closed.

In other developments:

Many major roads are being affected by snow, with parts of the M4 and M50 closed for a time. There are hazardous conditions on the M5,the BBC travel centre reports
10,000 households in parts of south Wales are being affected by power cuts
Around 179 flights have been cancelled at London's Heathrow Airport and its northern runway was closed for 45 minutes for snow to be cleared. Birmingham Airport is closed until 14:45 GMT, while there are also delays and cancellations at London City and Leeds/Bradford airports
British Airways has cancelled over 60 flights. It has offered those travelling on Friday and over the weekend the chance to change their flights free of charge to a later date
Eurostar cancelled four journeys between London and Brussels
The East Coast train company has lifted ticket restrictions for all journeys on its trains which arrive in, or depart from, King's Cross station in London after 10:00 GMT on Friday
Rail services have also been affected with some operators running altered timetables. South West Trains has published a revised timetable, while Southern Railways said it planned to operate a "less frequent service" between London and the south coast
In London, contingency plans for Tube services have been put in place
BBC