Snow and ice are causing widespread disruption across east and south London today, with severe delays and cancellations across the transport network hitting users struggling to get to work.  

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for ice across the capital, advising people to expect icy patches on untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths.  Between four and six inches of snow fell overnight across the Eastlondonlines boroughs.

This morning, Transport for London announced severe delays and suspensions on most of its lines. There was no service on the London Overground between Highbury & Islington and Clapham Junction, West Croydon and New Cross, and Crystal Palace due to “heavy snow and ice on the track”.  

Southeastern Railway was experiencing major disruption across all routes and are advising passengers “not to travel this morning”. Service is slowly recovering after the company was forced to suspend large parts of its network before nine am due to snow on the track. All passengers who have tickets for today are now able to use these tickets “up to and including Thursday at no extra cost“.

Some bus services were also disrupted across all areas. Despite the snow, schools throughout the ELL boroughs remained open.

Motorists faced major disruption throughout the night after heavy snowfall saw large parts of the motorway come to a complete standstill.  

Tony Stewart, a commuter, told BBC Breakfast this morning he had been stuck on the M25 for eight hours: “There’s no-one to communicate with other than the radio…I saw gritters near me, but they were stuck for an hour.”  

National Highways said: “The snow has been cleared; the road has been re-treated, and all lanes are now open.”

Earlier congestion on the M25 clockwise has now eased, however anti-clockwise there is still a 90-minute delay for 11 miles. 

Major airports have not escaped the disruption. Last night Stansted and Gatwick airports were forced to close runways, causing many cancellations.   

Both airports are now “fully open and operational” but Gatwick has warned that “snow and freezing weather is causing some delays and cancelations.” They are urging passengers to check flight status and local links before travelling.  

The weather warning is in place until tomorrow with highs of two degrees and lows of minus two degrees across the ELL boroughs. 

Widespread disruption of transport is expected to continue throughout the week as National Rail strikes begin tomorrow.