Snow brings UK travellers to a halt

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Motorists have been warned to check weather conditions and local warnings before embarking on long journeys after heavy snowfall in the South East and eastern parts of England stranded thousands of travellers.

Blizzards have swept across much of the south east, bringing motorway traffic to a halt on many of the country's main routes.

The snow has also forced officials at two of the UK's busiest airports to suspend or cancel many flights out of Luton and Gatwick over the past 24 hours.

Gatwick, the UK's second busiest airport, closed for more than seven hours, while there were no early morning flights further north in Luton.

Television presenter Davina McCall was among those stuck on the A21 in Kent for three hours after a lorry blocked the road.

She said: "We got wedged in a whole series of cars and it was pelting down with snow. I did call the police after a couple of hours and they came pretty quickly."

McCall described Pc Stevens, the officer who rescued her, as "a saint" and posted his photo on her Twitter page.

Copyright © Press Association 2009

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