Brits Battered by Biggest Snowfall in 50 Years

Frozen nation buried
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 6, 2010 1:55 AM CST
Brits Battered by Biggest Snowfall in 50 Years
Antique curios are covered in snow in Lymm, United Kingdom.   (Getty Images)

The British government has issued a flash emergency weather warning for all counties as what's expected to be the biggest snowfall in 50 years is burying the nation. Forecasters are predicting nearly 20 inches of snow in under 24 hours in areas already socked by record chills and blizzards. Drivers were warned not to venture out, and schools as well as several rail services and flights were already shut down yesterday.

British troops were called in last night to rescue hundreds of motorists stranded in a massive snow-triggered traffic jam. Ambulance service officials warned they could only provide help in the most critical cases, and officials feared the nation would soon run out of heating gas. "The weather is taking a turn for the worse," announced Prime Minister Gordon Brown. "We are doing everything possible to keep disruption to a minimum." (More England stories.)

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