Travel chaos as snow forces Manchester Airport to close both runways – while drivers face massive motorway delays

TRAVEL chaos ground Britain to a halt this morning as heavy snowfall has cancelled flights and sparked motorway delays.

Manchester Airport was forced to close both runways due to the heavy snowfall.

In a statement to Twitter, Manchester Airport said: "Due to heavy snow fall, we have temporary closed both runways.

"Health and safety will always be our top priority and operations will resume at the earliest opportunity."

The airport has reportedly reopened after the severe winter weather had frozen all flights out of both runways.

The delay came as clearing services reportedly struggled to deal with the severe snowfall, with numerous flights forced into holding patterns while others were diverted.

Greater Manchester is currently under a severe weather warning that covers much of the nation, remaining in place until the end of the weekend.

According to Met Office charts, further snowfall is expected in the area from 11am today.

It comes as severe snowfall and freezing fog has caused major airports across the country to be disrupted.

Passengers at Gatwick airport have said thick frost and ice on the runways delayed flights by "hours".

Flights out of Dublin Airport have also been disrupted, with over 140 flights in and out of the airport currently cancelled.

Some passengers have reportedly been left sitting on planes for up to six hours at the airport due to the arctic conditions.

After Britain was blanketed by thick overnight frost, the Met Office has warned that the winter conditions could lead to further travel chaos over the coming days.

Drivers are being warned to be careful as plummeting overnight temperatures have led to ice on the roads.

It comes as the Government insisted it has sufficient levels of salt and grit in stock to get the country through the cold snap.

Councils have stockpiled 1.4million tons of salt, but 63 per cent are struggling to find HGV drivers to grit roads.

It comes as arctic conditions continued to freeze the nation today as temperatures plummeted, with numerous yellow weather warnings for snow and ice issued by the Met Office.

The warnings cover much of Scotland and Northern Ireland, and also cover from the South West of England across Wales and Greater Manchester.

The weather service issued alerts for London and the South East yesterday after temperatures fell to -9C.

It warned of a possible -15C on coming nights, with daytime temperatures barely above freezing.

The plummeting temperatures have led the UK Health Security Agency to send out a Level 3 cold weather alert across England.

The agency is warning vulnerable people to heat their homes to at least 18C, wear extra layers of clothing, and eat hot food to combat the cold snap.

Snow has already fallen across parts of Scotland, north Wales, and northern England this week, with more expected in the coming days.