Telegraph: A severe weather alert was issued for large parts of the country hit by icy conditions, heavy snow and winds of up to 60mph. North-west England, south-west Scotland and Northern Ireland were worst-affected.
At one point, the whole of Belfast was blacked out after a storm shut down the city's high-voltage transmission network. Other areas saw almost a foot of snow.
In Cumbria, more than 70 motorists were left stranded by drifts up to 15ft deep, while in Lancashire, the body of a 27-year-old...