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UK weather - as it happened: Four die in car crashes as snow and freezing temperatures cause travel disruption UK weather - live updates: Heavy snow and freezing conditions to worsen as schools close across Britain amid travel chaos
(about 11 hours later)
Four people have been killed in car crashes as heavy snow forced hundreds of schools to close and brought major travel disruption to the UK. Heavy snow and freezing temperatures will cause disruption throughout the morning rush hour as the “Beast from the East” tightens its grip on the UK. 
Scores of trains and flights were cancelled, while some roads were shut after a blanketing of snow, with police forces reporting treacherous driving conditions and blocked routes. Three weather warnings for snow are in place for Wednesday, with the South East, the North East and Scotland set to be most affected.
Amber and yellow snow and ice warnings were in place across the North East, the Midlands, the East of England and the South East, the Met Office said. Police and fire services across the UK reported having to rescue stranded vehicles and deal with crashes as several more centimetres of snow fell in some parts.
This liveblog has now finished. Several roads were also closed during the night and into the morning due to treacherous driving conditions.
The icy blast overnight caused misery for morning commuters. Follow along for live updates
Train passengers faced cancellations and disruptions on lines across the country. Temperatures plummeted again overnight, with Benson in Oxfordshire recording a low of minus 10C (14F).
Southeastern, which operates in Kent, cancelled dozens of trains, including several to London St Pancras, London Victoria and Cannon Street, while other companies affected include Southern, Greater Anglia and Great Northern. For most places the mercury hovered at between minus 4C (25F) and minus 7C (19F).
British Airways cancelled dozens flights from Heathrow Airport, while easyJet also warned passengers of disruption to its flights.  
Many schools across the country were closed, including more than 200 in Wales, 131 in Kent and 62 in East Sussex. Forecasters predict the snow and freezing temperatures will not be letting up any time soon, prompting the Met Office to extend some of its weather warnings.
An amber warning for much of the north of England and Scotland is in place until 6pm, while another covering London, the East Midlands and the east of England is in force until 10am.
A yellow warning covering vast swathes of the UK runs until just before midnight.
Long delays on bus, rail and air travel, plus disruption to phone networks, are likely occur throughout the day, with the strong winds also leading to the drifting of snow.
Dozens of schools in Scotland will remain closed on Wednesday, including all schools in East Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire, Fife, Stirling and Fulbrick.
Rail companies have warned delays may continue into Friday.
Southeastern said it was planning to run a normal service but that some rush-hour services would be altered and it would look to introduce an emergency timetable “if conditions deteriorate significantly”.
British Airways said the weather was likely to continue disrupting flights throughout the week.
It will proactively reduce flight schedules at Heathrow Airport “for several hours during the worst of the weather” on Wednesday.
Flights for later on in the week are “under regular review”.
It is expected that the mercury could plummet to minus 15C (5F) by midweek where there is snow on the ground, rivalling temperatures forecast for parts of northern Norway and Iceland.
From Thursday, forecasters predict that another weather system, Storm Emma, will bring blizzards, gales and sleet as it meets the chilly “Beast from the East” later this week.
The storm, named by the Portuguese Met Service, will move north through Europe and is due to hit the UK on Thursday and Friday, and will be “significantly disruptive”, bringing the risk of power cuts and transport delays.
Additional reporting by agencies