Major airports have been closed, motorways slowed to a standstill and
some of the busiest train services in Britain have been cancelled after
Arctic blizzards brought the most widespread snow for 18 years.
Conditions are expected to get worse with a band of snow expected to
move up from Europe during the day bringing further chaos.
The capital faced near shutdown as the entire fleet of London buses
was suspended and parts of the Underground were knocked out by the
dangerous conditions. Despite a fleet of snow ploughs working to clear
tracks, rail services in and out of the South East of England were
cancelled or severely disrupted.
On the roads thousands of gritters were out in force but there was
gridlock on major routes including the M25. Gatwick Airport and London
City Airport were both temporarily shut overnight as their runways were
de-iced. Thousands of passengers were stranded after 23 flights at
Gatwick were cancelled and 18 diverted because of the weather. Both
runways at Heathrow were closed with flights cancelled, diverted and
delayed. At London City, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton and Southampton
airports, many flights have been cancelled and delayed. For those with
flights and ferries to catch, do check what you are covered for if you
take out a travel insurance policy.
Under most travel insurance
policies, insurers will respond to claims for Delay and Abandonment as
well as Missed Departure. Some insurers provide cover for events beyond
your control so if you have been delayed by the snow then the travel insurance
will cover you for additional accommodation and travel expenses
incurred to get you to your destination, so your holiday is not lost.
Don’t forget to obtain a written report from the airline confirming the
delay and a report from the police or breakdown service if your vehicle
has been held up in the snow.
Keith McGregor is a partner of Strawberrysoup, a web design agency with offices in Chichester and Bournemouth. Strawberrysoup specialise in creative web design, content managed websites, search engine optimisation, search engine marketing and graphic design
