- Commuters urged ‘do not travel’ after Storm Emma meets Beast from the East
- Train companies earlier said services were “winding down” as cancellations and delays mounted
- Amber and red weather warnings lifted in the UK; but now it’s ‘freezing rain’ we’ve got to prepare for
- Airports closed, roads clogged and the military called in as Brits prepared for a night of CHAOS
Thousands faced being stranded overnight on Friday as train firms advised all passengers not to travel while blizzard conditions crippled Britain’s transport network.
Despite amber and red weather warnings being lifted earlier, snow continued to wreak havoc on roads, railways and airport runways.
Train companies initially said services at some of Britain’s busiest stations would “wind down” gradually, but as reports of widespread delays and cancellations mounted, Southeastern was forced to advise customers to “stay overnight” if they could. South West Trains followed soon after.
Tweets from the National Rail Twitter account hinted at behind-the-scenes chaos, with one message written in all-caps.
The all-caps message was swiftly deleted.
Disruption was seen across all major rail routes, including the West Coast and East Coast mainlines.
Southeastern, which operates across the south east on the main routes out of London into Kent and east Sussex, shared video showing electric charges misfiring underneath a train.
It said the video was “a live example of the problems currently across our Network - trains are struggling to access electricity from the 3rd rail due to Ice buildup.”
All trains out of the capital via New Cross, in south London, were cancelled, as were services via nearby Lewisham.
A yellow “be aware” weather warning of snow is still in place across Scotland until 11.55pm on Saturday and across some parts of the country over the weekend into Monday.
The weather - sparked when the Beast from the East collided with Storm Emma on Thursday - has caused dangerous driving conditions nationwide forcing hundreds of schools to close.
And on Friday the military was once again called in to help rescue stranded motorists - with many reports of collisions and incidents on roads across Britain.
Meanwhile the Irish Met Office has extended its red weather warning for the counties of Dublin, Kildare, Wexford, Wicklow and Meath to 9am tomorrow.
London Waterloo, the UK’s busiest train station, closed at 8pm on Friday.
Reporters on the ground described the situation there as “very busy”.
While one commuter said simply: “Trains down... Everything delayed”.
Earlier, some rail travellers were delayed after their train’s doors froze.
A driver on a London Northwestern service apologised to passengers travelling between London and Tring, Hertfordshire.
He said cold weather had caused the opening mechanisms on some doors to freeze.
The driver delayed departures from stations to give passengers time to find a door which was working.
The rail line at Dawlish on the south Devon coast has been closed after the sea wall was breached.
Flooding and debris blocked the line after up to 15 metres of fencing and stones were displaced, Network Rail said.
A “substantial amount” of ballast has also been washed across the track along 150 metres of the railway.
And Euston Station in London was evacuated amid the snow chaos after reports of a small fire in the basement. It has since re-opened.
The chaos in London and the south east provoked derision from those in more northerly parts, however. “We’ve had this since Wednesday,” one person commented on social media.
Train services across Scotland and many parts of northern England have suffered severe disruption throughout the week.