**Emergency weather warnings have been issued by the Met Office for large parts of central and southern England.**Up to 20cm (8in) of snow fell in parts of Scotland and northern England on Tuesday causing travel chaos for millions of people.
Another 40cm (16in) has been forecast in some areas as the freezing weather moves from north to south.
More fell overnight and commuters and parents face a difficult journey to work and school on Wednesday.
The Met Office said Dorset, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire could see “exceptionally heavy” snow.
Hundreds of schools also had to be closed as the UK entered the grip of its longest cold snap for almost 30 years.
‘Widespread disruption’
Between 15cm (6in) and 30cm (12in) of snow is expected in some places but there could be as much as 40cm (16in).
The Met Office said: “This is expected to cause widespread disruption to the transport network and could lead to problems with power supplies.”
Parts of Surrey, Hampshire, West Sussex, East Sussex, Buckinghamshire and the Isle of Wight are also expected to be affected.
A six-year-old boy is in a critical condition in hospital after he fell into an ice-covered garden pond in Crookham Common near Thatcham, Berkshire. It is thought he had been underwater for 30 minutes.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on the Downing Street Twitter site: “As public services do all they can in this extreme weather, please look out for neighbours and relatives in need of assistance.”
Among other developments:
• National Grid issued a gas balancing alert (GBA) for only the second time, as demand increased by 30% from normal and additional supplies were sought from abroad
• Manchester Airport and Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport were temporarily closed. John Lennon reopened at 2030 GMT on Tuesday
• Flights were delayed at Heathrow, Gatwick, Glasgow and Leeds-Bradford
• A section of the A66 in Cumbria was was shut in both directions
Southampton Airport closed on Tuesday evening as the snow fell in Hampshire.
A statement on its website said: “Snow has just arrived at Southampton Airport and operations are temporarily suspended whilst snow is cleared from the runway.”
CHECK LOCAL DISRUPTION
Notts: Latest weather information
Wiltshire: Severe weather advice
Staffs: School closures due to snow
Devon: Severe weather information
Tyne: Travel and school closures
Check for disruption in your area
Gatwick, Luton and Birmingham airports were also shut.
Many train operators will run revised timetables as they cope with the freezing conditions.
These include East Coast, East Midlands, Chiltern Railways, First Great Western, National Express East Anglia, South West Trains, Southeastern and Southern.
Special de-icer trains ran through the night to keep tracks and overhead cables free of snow and ice.
Among the roads affected by the weather were the A1 northbound at Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, A30 eastbound in Cornwall, A27 westbound in West Sussex, and the M27 eastbound and A3 northbound in Hampshire.
A jack-knifed lorry caused the the M54 eastbound in Staffordshire to be closed.
In sport, Wednesday’s Carling Cup semi-final between Manchester City and Manchester United has been postponed, and horse racing has been abandoned at Southwell and Hexham on Wednesday, and Huntingdon and Ludlow on Thursday.
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