Monday 2 February 2009

BBC NEWS | England | London | Heavy snow disrupts London travel

Heavy snow disrupts London travel
A skier in Pimlico, central LondonPeople are finding innovative ways to travel in London
Thousands of people are unable to travel as London's transport network has been disrupted due to snow.
The majority of the bus network and three Underground lines - the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Waterloo & City lines - have been suspended.
London Mayor Boris Johnson has suspended the city's congestion charge for the day.
Both runways at Heathrow Airport closed although one has since reopened. London City Airport remains closed.
The snow caused a Cyprus Airways flight to slip off a taxiway at Heathrow and land in grass.
Passengers were unharmed in the incident which took place at about 0820 GMT, airport operator BAA said.
The authority added it was the last flight to land before the runways were closed.
British Airways said it has cancelled all its flights until 1700 GMT.
Earlier, all bus services in the city were suspended. A few are being reintroduced but most remain withdrawn.
London has seen the heaviest snowfall in 18 years, weather experts said.
Buses and Tube
Up to 10cm (4in) of snow has already fallen in some parts of Greater London, with 6cm (2in) of snow reported at Heathrow Airport.
The conditions led the Met Office to issue an extreme weather warning for London and the south east of England.
On the Underground, the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Waterloo & City lines are fully suspended. The Bakerloo, Jubilee, Piccadilly, Northern and Districtlines are partly suspended.
There are severe delays on the Central Line. Several Tube stations are also closed.
Impact of the snowfallMost London buses suspendedCircle, Hammersmith and City, Waterloo and City lines suspendedSoutheastern Trains and Gatwick Express cancelledReduced service on Southern and First Great WesternLondon City airport closedOne runway at Heathrow closedTreacherous driving conditionsMore than 260 schools closed
A spokesman for Transport for London (TfL) said: "Heavy snowfall across the London area last night has severely disrupted transport services and furthersnow is forecast throughout Monday.
"The biggest difficulty today is the road conditions which are extremely dangerous and drivers should take extreme care."
All services are currently suspended until further notice on Southeastern Trains and there is no service on Gatwick Express. Southern and First Great Westernare running reduced services.
Although Gatwick Airport was open, there were significant delays and cancellations, he added.
Passengers were advised to check before leaving for the airport.
Treacherous conditions
On the roads, the southern section of the M25 has treacherous driving conditions between the M23 and the A3.
The A2 is shut into London at Lewisham Road in Blackheath because of snow with many other roads across London extremely slippery.
Scotland Yard said it had reports of a number of crashes in the early hours, though no-one was seriously hurt.
A commuter at a Tube stationMost Tube services have been severely disrupted
The Highways Agency said there have been too many minor accidents on the roads "to put a number on".
The agency recommended people should only take essential journeys.
A London Ambulance Service spokesman said it received more than 650 calls between midnight and Monday morning and stressed that it would only respond to"life-threatening calls" as it was under "severe pressure".
London NHS has advised patients, who have outpatient appointments or booked to undergo non-emergency surgeries, to call their local hospitals before travelling.
More than 260 schools across London have been closed with the boroughs of Haringey and Camden in north London, Westminster in central London, Hounslow andEaling in west London,
Bromley and Lambeth in south London and Barking and Dagenham in the east being the worst affected.
Eurostar services from London are currently operating but are subject to possible delays.
Night-time temperatures across London could drop to -3C as a blast of cold air sweeps in from the North Sea.
Are you prepared for the coming snow? Has the bad weather arrived with you already? Show us your snow by sending pictures in via the form below.
You can send pictures and video to: yourpics@bbc.co.uk or to send via MMS please dial +44 (0)7725 100 100.
Do not endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws.

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