Planes had to be diverted to Birmingham and Stansted overnight after heavy snow closed Luton airport. The airport reopened at breakfast time but holidaymakers were still facing delays as the airport cleared the backlog. Peter Allen, chairman of the National Farmers Union's England and Wales hill farming committee, said lambs had been badly affected by the weather. It takes its toll in deaths, particularly this year after having a mild three or four weeks in March. The biggest factor is starvation due to cold for those lambs who are newly born or in the first week of life.
Farmers can expect fairly heavy losses.
The Royal Horticultural Society's senior horticultural adviser, Guy Barter, said the cold snap could spoil early flowering plants such as magnolias and camellias. It could impinge on the amount of fruit we get.