Britain was brought to a standstill yesterday as the worst blizzards for two decades buffeted London and crippled the UK�s major transport hubs.
Britain was brought to a standstill yesterday as the worst blizzards for two decades buffeted London and crippled the UK's major transport hubs.
Today, authorities warned, it is Scotland's turn.
More than 100 flights were cancelled at Scottish airports yesterday and business leaders estimated the cost to the UK economy at more than £1bn.
Though Scotland escaped the worst of the weather, flights to and from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen suffered a knock-on effect from closed airports further south. Edinburgh Airport was forced to close during the evening as conditions worsened, forcing hundreds of travellers to land more than 40 miles away at Glasgow. Some flights from the US were also rerouted to Glasgow.
A statement for airport operator BAA advised passengers to check with their airline before setting off, and to expect further delays as authorities struggle to deal with the backlog that built up yesterday. Flights affected yesterday included services from Scotland to all London airports as well as Cardiff, Teesside and East Midlands.
Airport authorities were yesterday working with all available equipment to keep Britain's airports open, but workers at Heathrow had complained that the rate of snowfall was so quick that they were not even able to find sufficient space to dump snow once they had cleared it from runways.
Passengers were largely unable to take alternative routes, with major disruption to rail and road services adding to transport woes.
The Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc) said its inability to get staff to where they were needed was the gravest problem, and blamed the chaos on the state of the roads.
"Today's problems boiled down to physically getting people in," a spokesman said.
"If you can't get the staff in to place, you can't run train services. Getting people in to work, like a lot of other places, has been a challenge for us."
He blamed the lack of grit on roads for the problems.
"People don't live next to depots any more," he said.
"If you can't get people in to work, to clear the railway or operate the trains, then you can't do so."
Transport chiefs said yesterday that a number of roads in Scotland would become impassable as snowfall continued through last night, with residents in some areas of southern and central Scotland waking up to almost a foot of snow this morning.
Road website Traffic Scotland last night had warnings in place in every region of the country other than the Highlands and Western Isles. The snow is expected to move further north today, though forecasters predicted that southern Scotland would be past the worst by lunchtime. Met Office severe weather warnings have been escalated across Scotland today, with most of the country - including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeenshire and the central belt - on the second highest out of four levels of alert.
Scottish residents are advised to be prepared and monitor weather conditions before embarking on any journey or outdoor action.
However, a number of transport-related websites, including National Rail, crashed yesterday due to the unprecedented volume of traffic as worried travellers checked whether routes were clear and functioning. Similar problems looked possible today as disruption continues.
Business leaders and politicians condemned the state of readiness in London after the capital was brought to a standstill by the unexpected snowfall.
All buses were cancelled throughout the capital, and most underground lines were forced to close as conditions worsened throughout the day. Performances of West End shows Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera and Oliver! were called off, as were events at the Royal Opera House and the National Theatre.
A show at the King's Theatre in Edinburgh, Tons of Money, was also cancelled after stars were unable to travel up from London for the evening's performance, while a concert at the capital's Queens Hall was abandoned for the same reason.
Edinburgh Zoo was also closed for business yesterday morning as the popular attraction was carpeted in snow. The zoo is usually open 365 days each year, only closing in extreme circumstances.
Workers around the UK were given an unexpected day off as offices and many public buildings remained shut - including dozens of schools in southern and eastern Scotland - and public transport was either inoperative or heavily delayed.
Four secondary schools and 33 primaries in the Scottish Borders were forced to close, along with 18 institutions in Dumfries and Galloway, two in South Lanarkshire and seven institutions in Fife.
Elsewhere in Fife, two members of an ambulance crew were hospitalised after their vehicle skidded and overturned on its way to answer an emergency call.
The accident occurred in the early morning as personnel responded to a 999 alert in Kelty. Another ambulance was dispatched to respond to the call, and the two ambulance crewmembers suffered no serious injuries.
An estimate from the Federation of Small Businesses put the cost of the bad weather as high as £1.2bn.
The figure, they said, was based on survey findings that said up to one-fifth of UK employees did not work yesterday. The resultant loss of contracts signed, cheques banked, deliveries made and items purchased would add up to £1.2bn, according to their figures.
That weather could wreak such devastation, they said, was proof that the UK must now ask serious questions about the quality of infrastructure and the country's ability to cope with natural conditions.
Foreign media last night poured scorn on the country's level of preparedness. Canadian journalist Adrienne Arsenault, of news station CBC, said: "What has become very clear over the last 12 hours is that this country is not at all prepared."
The report noted that, although 20cm of snow "might not raise much concern in most parts of Canada, the amount has wreaked havoc on the British capital overnight and into the day".
Temperatures of minus six accompanied snowfall in Toronto yesterday, the station added, with little disruption to infrastructure and business.
However, Rebecca Clarke of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said recent advances in technology had helped the UK's ability to cope with chaotic weather.
"Companies that have put in place the technology and practices to allow their people to work flexibly in normal times can reap the rewards today, as thousands of people log on from their living rooms and bedrooms to keep the knowledge economy ticking over," she said.
Cold weather will continue throughout the week, though forecasters said Scottish cities could expect to have thawed a little by tonight.
