The deadly storm has claimed the lives of ten people so far - and left thousands of drivers trapped on roads on the coldest March day on record
THE military has been drafted in to rescue hundreds of drivers stranded on snow-covered roads as Brits are warned Storm Emma is set to wreak more havoc.
Floods, black ice and blizzards are predicted to hit the country today along with fears gas could run out as the winter storm batters the UK.
Ten people have now been killed including a ten-year-old girl as yesterday became the coldest March day on record at -5.9C.
A major incident was declared by Hampshire Police on Thursday as they tried to free hundreds of drivers stranded on the A31.
The force had to call for military back up, with the route closed in both directions between the M27 and A338 at Ringwood for several hours, before it was reopened just before 5.30am.
Shortly before 6am, the force said some traffic was moving again but they were still trying to clear trapped cars and recover abandoned vehicles.
Brits are now:
The South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust was forced to appeal for help from 4x4 owners to move its staff around in the adverse conditions.
Meanwhile, Devon and Cornwall Police have launched a major rescue mission after 300 drivers were trapped in freezing temperatures.
Drivers have now been urged to stay off the roads after the RAC attended 8,000 breakdowns up to 5pm yesterday.
Trains have also been hit by delays with the Southern part of the Arriva Trains Wales services cancelled due to the bad weather.
National Rail's website is also showing that most other train services in the country are being impacted by the weather.
Birmingham City Council announced it was closing all council maintained schools today to the weather and the impact it was having on transport.
Cardiff council has also advised all schools in the city to remain shut for a second day running.
Avon and Somerset Police said it was dealing with up to 100 cars stranded in snow on the A303 at Ilminster and a further 20 on the A358 at Thornfalcon.
Cops have declared it a "major incident" and are urging against people travelling today.
Worse is expected to come today as the Environment Agency triggered six flood warnings – meaning floods were expected and people should take immediate action to protect themselves.
The agency warned that floods were likely on the Humber Estuary, Whitley Bay, The Tyne Estuary and in three locations in Cornwall.
A further 19 flood alerts, one level down, have also been activated.
The chaos came as a seven-year-old schoolgirl become the youngest of ten victims killed by the ‘Beast from the East’, which brought parts of Britain to its knees yesterday.
The child, believed to be a pedestrian, was fatally injured after a car hit a house on Bodrigan Road in Looe at about 2.30pm, Devon and Cornwall Police said.
A 75-year-old woman was earlier found dead in a snow-covered street in Leeds, while Hampshire Police said a 46-year-old man died after a collision involving a lorry and van on the A34 southbound near Tot Hill services.
A 60-year-old man who died after being pulled from the water at Danson Park, near Welling, south-east London on Wednesday, was named by the Metropolitan Police as Stephen Cavanagh.
Forecasters issued a red alert warning of a danger to life as Storm Emma’s 70mph winds hit the existing Beast from the East chill — bringing deadly snowdrifts and a -15C windchill.
Forecasters warned a further 50cm of snow could fall today over parts of Dartmoor, Exmoor and south east Wales, with the Met Office saying: "Winter is still firmly in charge across the UK."
Britain was also on the brink of running out of gas yesterday — hit by a perfect storm of freezing weather and problems with supply.
National Grid, the operator of the UK’s gas network, revealed it was battling a devastating shortage as homes and businesses push their heating higher and higher.
Factories cut production after the National Grid offered them cash to use less energy.
And the Government urged families: “Do carry on using your heating and cooking meals as normal.”
Demand was a third higher than normal for early March. The cold snap means it is up across Europe.
But yesterday’s crisis could have been averted if British Gas owner Centrica had not been allowed to shut the UK’s biggest gas storage plant before Christmas.
The facility at Rough off East Yorkshire accounted for 70 per cent of our stores, and at any one time it could hold enough gas to power 2.5million homes for a year.
Yesterday there were also short-term supply issues with gas fields in the North Sea and Norway.
A terminal was down in Barrow, Cumbria, and there was a problem with a pipeline from Holland.
Tom Marzec-Manser, of analysts ICIS, said: “All these little things add up when demand is so much higher than it should be at this time of year.”
At one point yesterday the wholesale price of gas soared by five times more than normal. But it will not affect the prices families pay because energy firms buy it in advance.
Energy Minister Claire Perry said: “The National Grid is following a standard procedure and people’s domestic supplies won’t be affected.
“We are in constant contact to monitor gas supply throughout this extreme weather.”
Earlier today a leukaemia patient who was on his way to a chemotherapy session at the Royal Oldham Hospital ten minutes from his home was left trapped for three hours in his car.
Mozie Mafi's daughter Soraya asked for help on social media today as she explained his heating had broken down.
He spent three hours stuck in his car in -5C temperatures until traffic started moving again.
Cornwall and Devon Police declared a major incident for the counties as the wintry weather intensified.
Armed forces were pulled in to help get medical staff to work in Lincolnshire, as NHS bosses warned hospitals are struggling to cope with the "perfect storm" of freezing temperatures, norovirus and flu.
Admissions have spiked in the wintry conditions and put a strain on accident and emergency departments, as the prolonged cold today digs its heels in with the collision of two treacherous weather systems.
The latest death to emerge amidst the plummeting temperatures was a little girl killed in a car crash - nine others have also died during the dangerous conditions.
Today forecasters issued a risk for life red warning in parts of England and Wales and the National Grid put out a "gas deficit warning" today - meaning there might not be enough gas supplies to meet demands as the -15C icy chill continues.
Yesterday morning the Met Office forecast blizzard conditions in a red warning - the first snow alert of that severity issued in England since 2011 - in force until 2am tomorrow.
On what is technically the first day of Spring wintry showers are expected to arrive bringing 2ft of snow, as the northern Beast from the East collides with Storm Emma to batter shivering Brits.
Snowfall will grow heavier through Thursday afternoon and evening with 10-20cm likely to settle widely across red alert areas, Met Office chief meteorologist Paul Gundersen said.
He added freezing rain may batter parts of south-west England and Wales on Thursday night, potentially creating large, hazardous icy stretches as rain droplets supercool and freeze instantly upon hitting the ground.
People hoping to jet away from the colder climate may be left disappointed as flights have been delayed and cancelled from UK airports - with Ryanair cancelling all flights to and from East Midlands, Leeds Bradford, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
In a number of incidences yesterday, a woman was pulled from the sea at Hunstanton and a young boy was saved by firefighters in Essex when he ran onto a frozen lake and became trapped.
A multi-car pile up on the M66 this morning saw 16 vehicles involved, and 20 separate crashes in one hour took place on the A-19.
The AA has estimated there have been more than 8,000 collisions on Britain's road in the past three days.
Travel misery continued for many as the heavy snow left 1,000 drivers trapped in plunging temperatures overnight, 4,000 schools shut and planes were grounded - with the miserable weather set to continue into next week.
Motorists frantically trying to get home from work last night were forced to either sleep in their cars or completely abandon them.
In the midst of the travel chaos a traffic officer vehicle caught fire on the M62 this morning.
A Highways England spokesman said: "The traffic officer vehicle caught fire during this work. Although no one was harmed the fire did delay the work to get vehicles on the move again.
"Firefighters from West Yorkshire attended the scene and dealt with the fire."
Operations and GP appointments have been cancelled across England as the freezing weather - with a wind chill of -11C -continues.
Snow has forced hospitals in Lincolnshire, Kent and Norfolk to postpone non-urgent ops due to staff shortages and a lack of beds.
Temperatures dipped as low as minus 10.3C in Kinloss, Scotland, overnight and up to 50cm of snow is expected by tomorrow morning over Dartmoor in Devon.
The summit of Snowdon recorded a low of -13C with a "feels like" factor of -30C as the country froze.
The extreme weather forced the Scottish Tories to cancel their annual conference which was due to take place this weekend in Aberdeen. Leader Ruth Davidson said: "Delegates' safety comes first."
Snow and raging winds ripped off part of the Glasgow Royal Infirmary's roof this afternoon.
Safety experts worked on site to assess the building to make sure its safe after panels came loose at the hospital's maternity building, Princess Royal Maternity Hospital.
No one was injured in the incident and a hospital spokesman said patient care has not been disrupted.
Councillor Allan Casey said: "Please be careful around Glasgow Royal Infirmary as I am hearing reports that part of the roof has sustained some serious damage.
"In and around Alexandra Parade and Wishart Street, please be careful."
X Factor tour stars were also left terrified on their trip to Glasgow today after howling winds sent part of their tour bus roof flying off onto the motorway.
The group – which includes winners Rak-Su, Grace Davies, Kevin Davy White, The Cutkelvins, Lloyd Macey and Sean and Conor Price – were travelling from Scotland to Leeds when the incident occurred.
Commuters have suffered once more in the bad weather - as London's Paddington Station was closed from 8-10am and the A1 was closed for snow closure.
Major airports including London Gatwick and Heathrow told passengers that cancellations loomed, while Glasgow Airport announced it was closed until 3pm.
While in snow-hit Lincolnshire, the A52 became impassable between Boston and Skegness, with police warning officers would not be able to rescue stuck drivers.
Even snowploughs were unable to get through to rescue drivers, with drifting snow causing piles up to a foot deep.
And the M62 was hit was two hour delays for motorists attempting to get through the bad weather.
In Norwich TV presenter Jake Humphrey offered help with his 4x4 to anyone vulnerable in need of a visit of help with shopping, as the country struggled in the snow.
While a family living in a farmhouse in Stainmore, Cumbria, were shocked to find their front door totally blocked in by the snow.
Forecasters have warned the weather is set to get even worse today with a staggering 20 inches of snow to be dumped on parts of the country, deadly black ice coating the roads and sub-zero temperatures freezing the nation.
Greg Dewhurst said: "Through the night the worst hit areas have been over our red warning area in the southern belt of Scotland and Lothian.
"We are looking at a very busy day on Thursday. We are look at heavy snowfall pushing across southern Wales and south-west England through the day but there will be gale-force winds as well, the worst have been blowing to blizzard conditions.
"It will be very windy everywhere and very cold - temperatures will stay below freezing for much of the country."
The UK has not witnessed such a widespread spell of cold since around March 2013, he added.
Met Office forecaster Simon Partridge said: "If you don't have to go anywhere over the next few days, stay at home."
A red weather warning - the highest level - is still in place in for England until 2am tomorrow.
Amber warnings have also been issued for the north-east of England and the central belt of Scotland and on top of these, yellow snow warnings have been issued for vast swathes of southern, central, and northern England, Northern Ireland and Wales - in place for most of today.
Virgin Trains East Coast warned that anyone travelling north of Newcastle should defer their journey, and that there would be a number of alterations to its services.
TfL Rail also cancelled or amended some services, while Northern said the severe weather had left several routes blocked, with delays and cancellations across the whole network.
East Midlands Trains also reported several alterations and cancellations.
Southern tweeted this morning warning there are delays at Balcombe and between Brighton and Gatwick due to an eight foot icicle in a tunnel.
Police Scotland urged people not to travel on the roads at all after having to rescue 1,000 drivers yesterday, as the AA reports already having to go out to more than 100 motorists today.
Lincolnshire Police have warned people that "most roads" in the county are impassable, and urged people not to make journeys "unless absolutely necessary".
Dad-of-two Stevie Buise told STV how he was among those trapped on the motorway last night, but decided to ditch his car.
He said: "We got on the motorway at 2pm and at about 5.30pm I decided to leave the car as I was low on diesel and mobile phone battery.
“I had two young kids in the car so I thought I would take my chances while it was light outside."
Roads have also been affected by the snow with the A66 in Cumbria closed in both directions between Scotch Corner and Brough, due to "severe snowfall".
The A56 in Lancashire was likely to be closed for "several hours" due to a lorry crash between the M65 and A680.
Lincolnshire has been badly affected - with the A17 and the A15 between the M180 and Lincoln shut.
Lincolnshire Police said yesterday the military is desperately needed for the next 24 hours as the force declared a "critical incident" after heavy snowfall.
It's hoped the Army and RAF vehicles could be used to reach vulnerable people trapped by the snow.
Northumbria Police said the A68 was closed between Corbridge and Ridsdale.
In Derbyshire, the Woodhead Pass was shut in both directions between Tintwistle and Flouch.
Public Health England (PHE) urged people to plan ahead to ensure they have enough food and medicine.
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