Heavy snow brings widespread disruption across the UK and Germany

A lady is seen pulling her child along on a sledge as they admire Anthony Gormley’s sculpture, the Angel of the North, which is surrounded by heavy snow in Gateshead, North East England, yesterday

Heavy snow and freezing rain brought widespread disruption across Europe yesterday, particularly in the U.K. and Germany, with several major airports forced to suspend flights

With the weather set to stay inclement on Sunday in the U.K., there are concerns that many rural communities, particularly in the north of England, could be cut off, with up to 40 centimeters of snow on ground above 300 meters.

The National Grid, which oversees the country’s electricity network, said it had been working to restore power after outages across the country. The company’s live map shows power cuts in Birmingham in central England, Bristol in the west and Cardiff in Wales.

Many sporting events have already been postponed, though the heavyweight Premier League fixture between rivals Liverpool and Manchester United is on, following an inspection at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield and of local conditions.

Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport and Manchester Airport had to close runways, but both appeared poised to reopen them by late Sunday morning. Leeds Bradford Airport, however, said it had closed its runway on Sunday morning.

The road network was heavily impacted too, on what would have been a very busy day with many families returning home from the Christmas and New Year break and students heading back to universities.

Many roads had been preemptively closed by local authorities but stranded vehicles and collisions have caused disruption elsewhere.

On the railways, many services were canceled, with National Rail warning of disruption continuing into the working week.

Britain’s main weather forecaster, the Met Office, says sleet and snow will continue to push north on Sunday and will be heaviest in northern England and into southern Scotland. After experiencing freezing rain, which occurs when supercold rain freezes on impact, the south will turn milder.

The Environment Agency has also issued eight flood warnings across southern England on the River Taw and River Avon.

Snow and ice were also causing havoc in Germany, where a bout of winter weather is spreading from the southwest. Authorities have issued black ice warnings for drivers and pedestrians, advising people to stay home where possible.

Frankfurt airport canceled 120 of its 1,090 planned takeoffs and landings on Sunday, according to the Fraport press office. At Munich airport, only one runway was open while the other one was being cleared.

In Baden-Wuerttemberg eight people were injured when a bus skidded off the road near the town of Hemmingen.

Long-distance train connections also experienced irregularities in the Frankfurt area. PAN PYLAS & MONIKA SCISLOWSKA, LONDON, MDT/AP