Four children were fighting for their lives on Monday, after being pulled from an icy lake as an Arctic blast sent temperatures tumbling across the UK.
“Four children have been taken to hospital in critical condition after being rescued from an ice-covered lake,” West Midlands Ambulance Service said, adding that they had been called to the lake in Solihull, central England, on Sunday afternoon.
Emergency services said the children went into cardiac arrest when they were rescued and were taken to hospital in critical condition and reminded people to take care in potentially hazardous conditions.
The incident came as the UK was hit by heavy snow and freezing conditions, causing major travel disruption, on the eve of a national rail strike on Tuesday that was already expected to bring the country to a grinding halt.
Meanwhile, while two coal plants have been put on standby in case of a power crunch over winter.
The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning on Monday for snow and ice in London and southeast England, with ice and fog warnings in other parts of England and the whole of Northern Ireland.
The snow caused issues for commuters and holidaymakers at the start of a fortnight where rail workers and border officials plan industrial action.
Operations in many parts of London’s underground network were either suspended or faced delays, while motorways witnessed gridlocks due to snow.
London’s Gatwick and Stansted airports warned that the conditions could disrupt flight schedules.
“Our runway is temporarily closed whilst we undertake snow clearing,” the Stansted airport said, with many flights cancelled early on Monday.
The airport is a main hub of budget airline Ryanair, which also cautioned about disruption to its flights at Gatwick, south of London.
“Due to ongoing severe snowy weather across the UK, runaways at both Stansted and Gatwick have been temporarily closed tonight (11 December), disrupting all flights scheduled to depart Stansted/Gatwick during this temporary closure period,” it said.
Both airports were open on Monday, but passengers were told to brace for delays.
Dozens of stranded passengers posted videos on social media showing snow-covered runways and planes stuck on the ground.
More than 50 flights were also cancelled on Sunday at Heathrow, the UK’s largest airport, due to freezing fog.
Train and bus services in London were also severely affected after the dump of around four inches of snow overnight, which also forced the closure of parts of the M25 orbital route around the capital, the country’s busiest motorway.
Southeastern, which operates rail services into London, advised passengers not to travel due to severe disruption caused by snow and ice.
Some schools were also shut.
Meanwhile, Britain’s National Grid on Monday issued a notification to warm two winter contingency coal plants.
“This measure should give the public confidence in Monday’s energy supply,” the National Grid said, adding it was not confirmed the plants would be needed, but they would be ready.
The UK has been experiencing a cold snap for several days, with temperatures dropping to -10 Celsius degrees in some areas, although the Met Office said the temperatures were “not unusual for this time of year”.
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