UK Christmas standstill: how bad can it get?

Britain remains under a blanket of snow and ice and the headlines are screaming that 'Christmas is cancelled' due to icy roads, grounded airplanes and broken down trains. It could finally change on Boxing Day - and then there'll be floods.

Just to make life more interesting, an earthquake was reported at 11.0 last night in Cumbria and surrounding counties. The tremor was picked up by the US Geological Survey. It measured 3.6 on the Richter scale – just enough to shake the snow off the roof.
WHEN WILL HEATHROW WORK AGAIN PROPERLY?Both runways are now operating, and the airport is said to be running two-thirds of services. The backlog is not expected to be cleared until after Christmas. Suffering travellers will be glad to hear that Colin Matthews, the airport's boss, has volunteered to forego his annual bonus.
WHAT ABOUT EUROSTAR?
Eurostar planned to run more than 40 of its 52 trains from St Pancras to the continent today. However, travellers were warned not to come to the station without a valid ticket. The chaos at St Pancras on Monday and Tuesday was exacerbated by the ‘refugees’ from Heathrow, seeking an alternative way to travel to winter holiday destinations or get home for Christmas.

ARE THE TRAINS RUNNING?
Yes and no. The situation is improving, though delays and cancellations are still reported. Signalling problems between Darlington and York have increased journey times on the East Coast line by as much as 90 minutes.

WHEN'S THE NEXT DUMP OF SNOW?
Depending on where you live, it could be tonight. Heavy snow was expected in the north-east of England and Yorkshire. Severe weather warnings are in place across the north of England.

DO WE HAVE ENOUGH SALT?
Maybe for Christmas – but a report commissioned by the government warns that we local authorities could run out of road salt again this year because the bad weather set in unexpectedly early.

ARE THERE ANY HEROES?
Yes. In Cardiff, for instance, when hundreds of shoppers were stranded for four hours in a Tesco car park because heavy snow caused gridlock, the staff distributed mince pies and hot drinks.

WHAT ARE MY CHANCES IF MY CAR GETS STUCK?
There'll always be a long wait. The AA received 28,000 calls in one day on Monday – a record for all 105 years of the motoring organisation's operation.

WHO'S HAD THE WORST OF IT?
You have to feel for the 1,000 UK troops in Afghanistan who learned on Sunday they might not get their two weeks' Christmas leave after flights to Brize Norton were cancelled.

WHAT'S BEEN CANCELLED SO FAR?
Chancellor George Osborne had to cancel a 'showdown' over bonuses with British banks on Monday to after snow left him stranded in New York. Seven Premier League games were cancelled at the weekend, Lady Gaga's first Paris gig was postponed because her trucks couldn't get through in time. In country parishes, many carol services have gone by the board.

FINALLY, WHAT'S THIS ABOUT BOXING DAY FLOODS?
You've got it. Floods can be expected on Boxing Day as a warm front melts snow, the Met Office announced today... with all the potential for further travel chaos that entails. ·