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5.52pm Traffic seems to be flowing reasonably well given the quantity of snow.The M1 is slow in Northamptonshire but there are no major road closures reported.

5.10pm After 7,000 properties were left without heat or power today because of weather conditions EDF the company responsible for delivering electicity to the homes in Norfolk said over 1,200 households would remain cut off over night.

The company advised homeowners without power to "wear lots of layers, stay in one room and keep the freezer door shut".

5.02pm Paul Simons, The Times weatherman, says: "It looks like snowballs and tobogganing for much of Britain this weekend." He predicts that the snow flurries will shift focus from the South East - to Scotland and the North East.

4.33pm The Association of Train Operating Companies said train companies worked with Network Rail to run empty trains all Thursday night to keep the rails and overhead cables free of snow and ice.

4.31pm The AA dealt with breakdowns at the rate of 1,400 an hour and attended 11,000 breakdowns by 1.30pm today. The motoring organisation said it expected to turn out for a total of 18,000 breakdowns - more than double the normal number

4.21pm The mercury will sink as low as -5C (23F) in northern areas tonight while tomorrow will see up to 5cm (2in) of snow drifting south east from Scotland.

3.30pm Gatwick uses Twitter to keep passengers updated

3.15pm National Grid says demand for gas will be the highest of the year as the snow makes people push up the thermostat. They are expecting it to be up by a third on the normal demand for this time of year.

3.10pm 58 inbound flights to Gatwick were cancelled today.

2.50pm Train services that are affected by continuing bad weather

2.40pm More than 500,000 schoolchildren were celebrating early Christmas presents today as schools succumbed to the big freeze.

Parents were left arranging emergency child care as more than 1,500 schools - the majority of them across eastern England - broke up early for the festive holiday.

More than 700 schools were closed due to adverse weather conditions across East Anglia alone.

2.30 pm A major road in Northamptonshire was brought to a standstill by the snowy conditions.

Motorists were advised to avoid the A14 after both westbound and eastbound carriageways were blocked by vehicles which had either broken down or been involved in minor collisions.

Five lorries were also stuck in a dip on the A509 between Wellingborough and Kettering, which was later cleared

2.00pm Up to 20cm fell in North Yorkshire - more forecast for the evening.

1.05pm Ladbrooks quote joint-shortest odds ever on a White Christmas in London at 6/4.

1pm Stephen Fry's supposed to fly to Kenya to film with some Rhinos this evening from Heathrow. He's worried how he will get there if there's more snow.

12.57pm Jonathan Ross and family are enjoying the weather. "My son had loads of friends to sleep ober (sic) last night. Big snowball fight in garden. One of them stormed off in snow-covered fury!" he twetted .

12.55pm Kent police say they have dealt with 5,500 calls from people needing advice about the weather in the past 12 hours.

12.40pm Expert travel advice - what to do if your flight is disrupted

12.08pm Multi vehicle pile up on M40 northbound near Marlow causing congestion.

11.55am Hundreds of flights cancelled despite airports reopening runways

11.45am Snow depths recorded by the Met Office at 9am this morning.

Some reports of up to 15cm in some areas with more on higher ground. The following are offical Met Office readings.

Wattisham, Suffolk 12cm ; High Wycombe 8cm ; Leeming, Northallerton 6cm ; Northolt 5cm; Benson, Oxfordshire 3cm; Heathrow 2cm.

The BBC reported 20cm fell in Norfolk.

11.40am Luton airport has reopened

11.15am Weekend forecast by Paul Simons, Times Weatherman

Over the weekend it's a different situation where instead of north east wind it's going to be northerly. That may not sound very different but it means the next batch of snow comes to the north of Scotland and a belt of snow will push all the way down right through the entire UK. But it is the east again which will probably get it worst.

There will probably be more snow next week but it's really difficult forecasting snow, it's a knife edge thing because at any moment it could change to sleet.

On Sunday pretty much the whole country, if not waking up to snow will be waking up to frost and ice.

Everyone wants to know about a White Christmas but it is very difficult to predict even the next few days and it is a very dynamic situation. There will be a titanic battle between cold air and warm air and that could end up with a final blast of snow or it could go out with a wimper if the warm air wins out.

11.10am 350 schools closed in Kent, 340 schools closed in Hertfordshire and 60 closed in Bedfordshire as thousands of children started their Christmas holidays early.

11.05am A snowy sunrise

10.50am Analysis by Paul Simons, Times Weatherman

The country is split in two. The wind is coming from the northeast and as the air, which is very cold, goes over the sea which is relatively warmer (1C warmer than normal because of climate change and a relatively warmer year) it picks up the heat and moisture and that builds up to big clouds.

Because the air is so cold the clouds fall as snow. Anywhere facing the north east has got snow. In the west there's a big high pressure system acting like an immoveable bolder, keeping the snow confined to the east and south east.

We have weather systems coming from the east and west and that is keeping places like Devon and Cornwall, Wales and Ireland relatively dry.

10.30am The A47 at B1108 Watton Road, westbound is blocked with traffic queues because of a jack-knifed lorry in Norwich.

10.25 am Early morning trains between Norwich and Sheringham line and Norwich and Lowestoft were cancelled and trains on the Norwich to London line were also cancelled or delayed. Most services were up and running by 9am.

10.23am 7,000 properties in Norfolk without power

10.21am Roads in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire were reported to be hazardous, with police warning motorists to stay clear of the A505 between Cambridge and Royston. Other roads affected today included the A168 in North

Yorkshire, the A1/M in North Yorkshire, the A1 in Bedfordshire and the M2 and M20 in Kent. The Highways Agency, which is responsible for England’s motorways and major A roads, said it was treating its roads with salt but warned motorists to take car even if a road had been salted.

10.20am 136 schools closed in Norfolk because of the weather.

10.15am Ladbrokes PLC shortens its odds on a White Christmas to 7/4 just shy of its lowest ever price offered on snow in the capital on Christmas Day of 6/4.

10.05 am Luton airport remains closed

10.02 am Row breaks out about who owns #uksnow on Twitter to enable twitterers to search tweets about the snow in the UK

10am British Airways travel update

9.45am Twitter is all a-tweet with pictures of the snow as the UK woke up to a white out

9.40am Add to the snow map Ben Marsh is using Twitter to create a snow map of the UK . Twitterers tweet their postcode if they've got snow today

9.25am Power cuts in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk

9.20am Racing is cancelled at Ascot

9.15am easyJet said that it had cancelled all its flights at Gatwick until “11am at least” and had also axed its flights at Luton until 11am. A spokesman went on: “We are operating at Stansted and Manchester but there have been cancellations at both airports.”

9.08am The snow has cut the country in two with areas in the south west experiencing slightly warmer conditions without a snowflake. Forecasters say those who haven't seen snow as yet are likely to by the end of the day in areas towards the east of England.

9.05am Drier and brighter conditions forecast for tomorrow but further snow falls expected this afternoon and on Sunday Scotland is likely to take the brunt of further downfalls.

9.01am Black ice is causing treacherous conditions on the roads in North Yorkshire and southern and eastern England. Hundreds of gritting trucks are out to prevent the roads freezing.

9am Flights in to and out of Luton and London City Airports still suspended. Heathrow is operating as normal.

8.57 am Television presenter Davina McCall was among those stuck on the A21 in Kent for three hours after a lorry blocked the road. “We got wedged in a whole series of cars and it was pelting down with snow,” she said.

“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. She got home safely an hour ago.

8.55 am Gatwick advises passengers to contact their airline before they leave home to check the status of their flight and take extra time to get to the airport.

8.51am Snow falls to continue until this afternoon in Yorkshire, Northumberland, Sussex, Suffolk and Essex.

8.50am Cancellations on Standsted Express trains

8.45am Thundersnow reported along the Sussex and Essex coastlines

8.41am Question - why does it feel so much colder than the weather forecasts say? Here's the answer

8.40am Emergency services in the South East warned that they may not be able to reach callers as quickly as usual because of the conditions on the roads. Ambulance officials in the South East urged the public to help by calling 999 only in an emergency and avoiding non-essential car journeys.

8.35 am Brighton and Hove Buses said most of its bus services were suspended due to the weather conditions. Its website said: “We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused.”

8.31am If you have to travel make sure you are prepared for further snow falls. Here's the kit you'll need .

8.30 am The last day of term has been called off in many Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire schools and some pupils are being informed they can start their holidays early. Cambridgeshire Police are warning drivers to drive only when necessary. They are also telling motorists to steer clear of the A505 between Cambridge and Royston.

8.25 am Rail passengers also faced disruption this morning. Click for the lastest information on delays and cancellations. National Express East Anglia has cancelled several services in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.

Rail firm Southern said it is planning a “full normal service” on all routes despite snow in some areas of its network.

8.20am The Highways Agency said sections of the M40 are closed this morning following accidents involving several vehicles on the northbound carriageway in Buckinghamshire and the southbound carriageway in Oxfordshire.

8.15am Drivers forced to abandon vehicles in parts of Essex which got up to 6 inches of snow last night. Others had to spend the night in their cars.

8.10am British Isles weather forecast

7.45am Gatwick airport reopens following earlier runway closure some flights delayed and others suspended. Passengers should contact their airline for further advice.

7.40am The Queen woke up to a snowy scene this morning after she arrived at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk for her Christmas holiday yesterday. A Norfolk Police spokesman said: “The west and north Norfolk have been the worst for the snow. “She will have seen the brunt of it.”

Inspector John Tacey said that the majority of A roads in the county are still open and there were no major crashes overnight.

7.30 am Blizzards caused more than 70 lorries to get stuck on the A120 leading out of Harwich.

7.15am Drivers in East Anglia and South East England advised not to travel unless their journey is absolutely necessary

7am Luton Airport all flights suspended until 10am passengers advised to contact airline for further information about their flight

6am Flights into Gatwick diverted as airport forced to close overnight.

5am Essex Police said between 10pm last night and 5am this morning they attended more than 20 road collisions.