As many as 10 people were feared dead yesterday as a result of severe winter storms that battered the UK and saw the first significant snowfall of the year in Scotland.
A two-year-old boy died when a brick wall collapsed on him in north London while others, including the managing director of Birmingham Airport, were killed by falling trees or road accidents caused by winds which approached 100mph. One man died and another suffered serious injuries when their car was struck by a fire engine which was on its way to an emergency.
The Met Office issued severe weather warnings as storms swept across much of the UK. High winds forced the cancellation of 130 flights on domestic and short-haul routes in and out of Heathrow and Manchester and ripped off part of the roof at Lord's cricket ground in London, while power cuts in the city led to workers being sent home.
The central belt of Scotland saw the worst of the weather north of the border, which caused long delays for drivers and forced the closure of dozens of schools.
The knock-on effect of flight cancellations at Heathrow and Manchester meant disruption for people flying in and out of Scottish airports. At Glasgow, snow and poor visibility increased disruption and led to14 flight cancellations while 15 flights from Edinburgh and two from Aberdeen were cancelled.
Schools in West Dunbartonshire, Fife, Perth and Kinross, Stirling, Falkirk and Dumfries and Galloway were closed because of the weather. Two lorries jack-knifed on the M90, blocking the northbound carriageway, while a series of accidents in Angus and Perthshire caused delays.
In Grampian, police reported the B974 Banchory to Fettercairn road over the Cairn O' Mount had been closed to traffic because of icy conditions.
Train operator GNER said it was running 75% of its normal East Coast Main Line timetable between London and Edinburgh after Network Rail enforced precautionary speed restrictions. Services on the West Coast Main Line were also subject to cancellation last night.
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