page_title: Winter of 2009–10 in Great Britain and Ireland
section_title: Transport
hierarchical_section_title: Winter of 2009–10 in Great Britain and Ireland / Effects / Transport
caption_attribution_description: English: Aircraft at Leeds Bradford Airport during the 2009 European snowfall. Taken on the morning of Sunday the 27th of December 2009.
context_page_description: The winter of 2009–10 in the United Kingdom was a meteorological event that started on 16 December 2009, as part of the severe winter weather in Europe. January 2010 was provisionally the coldest January since 1987 in the UK. A persistent pattern of cold northerly and easterly winds brought cold, moist air to the United Kingdom with many snow showers, fronts and polar lows bringing snowy weather with it.
  The first snow fell on 17 December 2009, before a respite over the Christmas period. The most severe snowy weather began on 5 January in North West England and west Scotland with temperatures hitting a low of −17.6 °C in Greater Manchester, England. The snow spread to Southern England on 6 January and by 7 January the United Kingdom was blanketed in snow, which was captured by NASA's Terra satellite. The thaw came a week later, as temperatures started to increase.
  The winter weather brought widespread transport disruption, school closures, power failures, postponement of sporting events, and 25 deaths. A low of −22.3 °C was recorded in Altnaharra, Scotland on 8 January 2010. Overall it was the coldest winter since 1978–79, with a mean temperature of 1.5 °C.
context_section_description: London Gatwick Airport, London Heathrow Airport, Manchester Airport, Birmingham Airport, Cardiff International Airport, London Luton Airport, George Best Belfast City Airport, Southampton Airport, Blackpool International Airport, Newcastle Airport, Durham Tees Valley Airport, Exeter International Airport, Plymouth City Airport, London Stansted Airport, Bristol Airport, Leeds Bradford Airport and Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield were all at some points closed due to the conditions.
  Some train services ran with revised timetables. Trains in Kent were delayed for up to three and a half hours, with hundreds left stranded.
  The A3 road around Horndean (along with the A3(M)) and in the Hindhead area and A1 road were closed. The vast majority of the country suffered disruption, with many minor roads closed and only the main motorways and A-road network passable for much of 5, 6 and 7 January.
  Buses on the Isle of Wight, Gloucester, (where a skeleton service was being run during Wednesday 6 January) and across southern Hampshire were suspended on 5 January owing to heavy snowfall, leaving a large number of people stranded. Limited services were back in operation on 7 January in Southampton and Portsmouth on the mainland and between Newport and the other main towns on the Isle of Wight. All services in Gosport, Fareham, Locks Heath, Titchfield, Whiteley and Warsash areas were suspended and remained so for two days because of the road condition. As of 8 January, one service was running between Gosport and Fareham and one between Fareham and Southampton, though this service was unable to serve Locks Heath or Titchfield.
  In late December, Eurostar trains from Paris or Brussels towards St. Pancras station were severely delayed, with delays of up to 16 hours. All Eurostar services were cancelled from 19–21 December.
  Aberdeen Airport was briefly closed because of icy weather.
  Cardiff Airport was closed temporarily on 6 January.
  In North East England A1(M) and A19 suffered adverse conditions, mainly on evenings as a result of temperatures dropping to well below zero. Bus services between Newcastle and Sunderland suffered some disruptions, as local operators suspended services. Local and minor roads were severely effected.
  The section of the A635 going over the Pennines was closed for just under two months, the longest time of road closure in the UK.
caption: Leeds Bradford Airport, December 2009
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