Heavy snowfalls disrupted planes, trains and roads in Britain and Ireland on Thursday, days after the biggest snow storms here in nearly 20 years left at least one person dead.
Around 10 centimetres (four inches) of snow fell in south Wales, western and central England, Northern Ireland and to the north of London, after much of the country was brought to a virtual standstill on Monday and Tuesday.
The British capital, where commuters faced huge problems getting to and from work on Monday, was spared much of the new snow.
Airports in Birmingham and the east Midlands, both in central England, in Belfast and in Luton, outside London, remained open but several flights were delayed.
Rail services were disrupted, while several bus and coach services were suspended entirely and motorists faced serious delays on snow-bound roads. Several hundred schools were closed in the affected areas.
A 16-year-old girl died Tuesday after being badly injured in a sledging accident in Yorkshire, northern England, while two climbers died on Mount Snowdon in Wales on Monday, although it was unclear if their death was due to the snow.
The Guardian newspaper reported Thursday that two people had been killed in weather-related car accidents.
The Federation of Small Businesses, representing more than 200,000 business people, said Tuesday that the bad weather could cost recession-hit Britain some 3.5 billion pounds (3.9 billion euros, 5.1 billion dollars).
More snow is due on Friday, although London is once again expected to be spared.
Meanwhile heavy snowfalls in many parts of Ireland caused severe traffic disruption and led to the cancellation of virtually all departing and arriving flights from Dublin airport.
Aer Lingus said they had cancelled all flights from mid afternoon as a result of the closure of the runway, except for a flight to London and one to New York. It planned to operate a full schedule on Friday.
The Irish Meteorological Office issued a severe weather warning about sub-zero temperatures and further snow over much of the eastern province of Leinster and in parts of east Munster in the south of the country.
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