Snow chaos with drivers stuck all night on M25, trains and buses cancelled and schools shut - and there’s more on way

12 December 2022, 07:21 | Updated: 12 December 2022, 15:14

By Fran Way

@journofran

The UK has descended into chaos with drivers stuck for three hours on the M25, passengers waiting on trains all night and schools shut because of bad weather.

More disruption is on the way with yellow weather warnings in place for snow, ice and fog in most of the country after temperatures plummeted to below -10C overnight.

One driver shared a video of the mayhem on the M25 in the middle of the night.

Sascha Moore showed the motorway in gridlock at 1am with drivers having already sat in traffic for 3.5hours with no sign of police or highways bosses.

She said: “Still no police presence at J26 M25 clockwise. Almost 3.5 hours now. The only movement in traffic appears to be from cars dangerously manoeuvring across lanes.”

In an update earlier this morning she said that the 49-mile journey, which would probably have taken around an hour in normal traffic, ended up being 7.5 hours.

Read more: Hundreds of passengers stranded at Stansted Airport after flights severely delayed after snow

Read more: Will we have a white Christmas this year?

She wrote: “Home just before 3am – 15 miles from where photos / videos were taken. Total journey: 7.5 hours to travel 49 miles. Thinking of those more vulnerable in need doing similar journeys tonight.

“Despite delay, the police did a great job at getting us home safely. Stay safe everyone.”

Meanwhile other drivers on the M25 shared terrifying footage which showed the road markings completely invisible under a thick sheet of ice.

In a video of the major motorway at around 10pm last night, which also showed four drivers stuck in the sludge with their hazards on, Josh said: "M25, no salt, nothing on the Essex side."

Road users in the South have also been asked by National Highways not to travel unless it is essential with up to 10cm of snow forecast on roads in the East.

In Hertfordshire, the M25 is closed again in both directions between Junctions 23 and Junctions 25 because of the snow.

Several other motorways have also closed because of the treacherous conditions including parts of the M5, M6, and m54.

Kent has been particularly hit hard with snow severely impacting the M2 and M20 with drivers also struggling to get through on the A21 and A249.

In some areas, police have reported a high number of crashes.

A spokesperson for Warwickshire Police said: “We are now instructing motorists to avoid taking the roads to the village of Halford unless it is a life or death emergency. In the last 10 minutes there have been nine collisions in the area.”

Meanwhile on the trains, LBC presenter Shelagh Fogarty said her friend spend all night on a train outside of London Bridge.

She said: “Friend just messaged after spending entire night on a train outside London Bridge. Anyone else experience same?”

National Rail said snow and ice has caused a severe disruption to the whole of its network in the south meanwhile South Western, South Eastern, Southern, Gatwick Express and Thameslink are all reporting major disruption and cancellations.

Yesterday’s snow also forced airports to close their runways. This morning Stansted, Gatwick and London City Airports have all suspended flights.

Schools across the country have also shut their doors to keep staff and pupils safe, instead resorting to teaching lessons online instead.