Hospitals have declared emergencies and at least 9,000 homes have lost power as snow-covered Britain is blasted by 90mph winds and flooding with forecasters warning the country 'is not out of the woods yet'.
Thousands of motorists were left stranded overnight as extreme weather continued to wreak havoc across Britain today with roads brought to a standstill by winds gusting at up to 90mph causing blizzards and drifting snow.
Hospitals have cancelled operations and doctors are battling to visit vulnerable patients as the NHS struggles to deal with the fallout from the conditions, while ambulance services are begging the public to help with their 4x4s.
Some 4,000 properties in Wales and South West England were left without power this morning as a result of 38 incidents, while thousands more were hit in the North West - including 5,000 in Buxton, Derbyshire, alone.
Seven flood warning have been issued across the South West and North East telling people to take 'immediate action', as well as 20 alerts - including one for the River Thames between Putney and Teddington in London.
South West England has been particularly badly hit after facing an unprecedented Met Office red warning for snow, with Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust declaring an 'internal critical incident'.
Officials at the trust have postponed all outpatient and planned routine surgery and diagnostic appointments, and prioritised all available staff to emergency services as they paid to tribute to their 'outstanding' team.
The Met Office has issued six separate weather warnings covering almost the entire country today - two amber for 'be prepared' and four yellow for 'be aware' - and further alerts are in place until the end of Monday night.
Snow depths reached half a metre (1ft 8in) in Drumalbin, Lanarkshire and St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. Around 40cm (1ft 4in) of snow was measured in Bishopton, Renfrewshire and Spadeadam, Cumbria.
Passengers were stranded overnight on the 5.30pm South Western Railway service from London Waterloo to Poole in Dorset last night at Brockenhurst in the New Forest on a train that allegedly had no heating.
Hampshire Police said it had called in the military to help evacuate people from the A31, while Avon and Somerset Constabulary said about 100 vehicles had become stuck on the A303 at Ilminster.
In Greater Manchester, hundreds of drivers spent the night stuck on the M62, with police warning wind speeds had reached 90mph over the Rakewood Viaduct, between junctions 21 and 22.
Dave Webb, 37, from Wakefield, told how he had been on the motorway for ten hours. 'We came to a halt at about 5.30pm last night and have been here since,' he said. 'There hasn't been any snow since about 6.30pm but the wind is pretty strong and gusting.'
Source:dailymail.co.uk