Hundreds stranded as snow shuts JLA

Merseyside was not the only region battling with the elements yesterday. Much of the holiday getaway was reduced to a crawl by a combination of fog, snow and ice.

The continuing wintry weather meant delays and cancellations at other airports, too, with Easyjet axing more than 70 flights nationwide yesterday.

Rail services were badly hit in southern Scotland, Kent, Sussex and Hampshire, with train companies warning further disruption was likely this morning.

Eurostar, having had to suspend services on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, was able to run around two- thirds of its normal number of high-speed Channel Tunnel trains yesterday and hoped to operate a similar level of service today.

Heavy traffic built up on all major road routes, with the M25, the A303 in Wiltshire, the M6 in Cheshire and the A21 in East Sussex among the most congested roads.

Bookies who have taken bets on a white Christmas were poised to lose out after forecasters predicted that there could be some snow on Christmas Day, particularly in Northern Ireland.