News about the world: Snow causes England travel chaos

Heavy snow warnings have been issued for much of England

Rail, road and air passengers in England face another day of disruption as the government begins a review of how transport operators have coped with the heavy snow.

Gatwick Airport had hoped to open on Thursday but will now remain closed until at least 0600 GMT on Friday.

Disruption continues on many bus and train services as the Met Office issues further heavy snow warnings.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said Britain needed to "keep moving".

Met Office heavy snow warnings are in place for Yorkshire and Humber, north-east and south-west England, the East, East Midlands, London and South East.

Ice is causing problems for motorists on roads all over England.

More than 100 drivers have spent a second night stranded in part of South Yorkshire.

Many drivers, stranded on the A57 since Tuesday evening because of the wintry weather, have taken refuge at a nearby Methodist church.

On the trains, Southeastern is running an emergency timetable and Southern trains is running no services until 1000 GMT.

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Many trains serving London Victoria, Charing Cross and Canon Street have been cancelled or delayed and Eurostar is delayed by up to 90 minutes.

There is also disruption on First Hull Trains, CrossCountry and East Midlands train services.

Passengers on one Wednesday evening train service to Brighton had to sleep in carriages overnight.

The Association of Train Operating Companies said rail operators and Network Rail were "doing all they can to keep trains moving and get people to where they need to be".

Announcing an urgent review into transport, Mr Hammond said complacency was "not an option".

"We took urgent action during the summer which means we're better prepared for severe weather than last year - a national strategic salt reserve exists for the first time," he said.

"But I share the frustration of the travelling public and we need to be sure that we are doing everything possible to keep Britain moving."

Gatwick is not the only airport experiencing problems.

Many people have had to dig their cars out of the snow

There are delays and cancellations to flights at Heathrow Airport and London City Airport is closed until 1200 GMT.

Durham Tees Valley Airport in the North East is also closed.

A Gatwick Airport spokesman said: "We are doing everything we can to resume operations, however conditions have deteriorated considerably.

"Our teams are working around the clock to make the runway safe for aircraft to use and get our airlines and passengers flying again."

On the roads:

Motorists in Kent, Essex, Surrey and Sussex advised to travel only if necessary.In Kent, the M20 slip roads on junctions 8, 9 and 10 of the coastbound carriageway are closed due to blizzard conditionsIn Surrey, the A3, M25, A22, A217 and A31 are "dangerously" affected by blizzards.Lorry drivers in Hampshire warned to avoid the A3 and the M3 is closed northbound at junction 9 because of a jack-knifed lorry. There are also delays on the M27Heavy delays on the M25 in Kent and Surrey

The Port of Dover and the Channel Tunnel are open but motorists are being asked to contact operators to avoid delays.

Hundreds of schools are closed again.

In Sheffield, city council leader Paul Scriven has asked teachers to get to their nearest open school, even if it is not the one they usually teach at.

Met Office forecaster David Price said: "It will continue to be very cold for most of the country today and in terms of snow it will be a very similar picture to yesterday.

"A band of snow will continue to affect south-east England, with the Home Counties, Kent, Surrey and London all experiencing between 2cm and 5cm of snowfall.

"Southern counties and Devon will also have snow."

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