The death toll from Britain’s biggest freeze for decades reached 22 today as the country prepared for its coldest night so far, bringing the promise of even more treacherous conditions.

Thousands of homes have been left without power, schools have closed and travellers have faced chaos as the weather hit roads, rail services and airports over the last two days. The disruption is estimated to have cost businesses around £700 million.

Councils continued to struggle with a growing salt emergency as police warned drivers in many areas not to travel unless their journey was essential.

The AA expect to have attended 20,000 breakdowns today - compared with about 9,000 for a normal Thursday - and warned that conditions were expected to remain “treacherous”.

Times Archive 1836 The snow storm

Only two or three of the mail coaches have arrived in London

• Big Ben frozen, 1947

• More snow today, 1962

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Meanwhile, the shutdown of an offshore Norwegian gasfield pushed Britain's gas infrastructure into emergency mode, forcing the closure of industrial companies in the north of England in order to preserve supplies to homes, shops and offices.

Although major airports stayed open, some air passengers had long waits for their flights, particularly at Gatwick, on the outskirts of south London, where more than 130 flights were cancelled. EasyJet had to axe more than 100 flights and British Airways was among other carriers that had to cancel some services.

The body of Philip Hughes, 45, from Slough, was recovered from beneath ice at the Lakeside Country Club in Surrey where he was watching the the world darts championship. A spokesman said it appeared to have been a “tragic accident”.

His death brings to 22 the toll of people killed by conditions related to the weather since the cold snap began on December 18.

One of the suppliers of rock salt, Cleveland Potash, said it was struggling to meet demand with a spokesman saying that Cheshire’s salt mine, the biggest supplier of rock salt in the country, only had a few days’ supply left.

Harrow council, in north-west London, described its wait for supplies of rock salt as “pretty outrageous” as it came close to completely running out.

In the House of Commons, Sadiq Khan, the Transport Minister, said the Government was doing “everything possible” to keep the UK’s road network open.

However Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, said: “This is not a dress rehearsal, it is the real thing, and everything must be done to get the supply moving and avoid the situation of London running out of salt to keep the roads open.”