DRIVERS and commuters have been warned they could face travel delays as snow sweeps into central and western Scotland.

Glasgow again escaped the worst of the blizzard conditions early today, but weather warnings have been extended to Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire and East Kilbride after some parts of these areas were hit by snow this morning.

Met Office forecaster Stuart Brooks said: "Glasgow is not going to get a great deal, but may see some slight accumulations.

"But travelling outwith the Glasgow area is going to be increasingly fraught over today and tonight.

"Anyone wanting to travel north is going to run into big problems, while the M74 could be quite bad going, especially into the Borders."

The snow also caused problems for air and rail travellers, with flights cancelled at Glasgow Airport.

At Heathrow Airport a number of planes were grounded, the fourth consecutive day services had been hit. Passengers were left fuming after 260 flights were cancelled yesterday – 20% of the airport's usual business – and today 10% were due to be cancelled because of expected low visibility.

Glasgow Airport cancelled five departures to Heathrow, London City and East Midlands, while four arrivals from down south were also hit.

The rail network was also suffering. Virgin, East Coast, Eurostar, First Capital Connect, London Overground, Southeastern, Southern, South West Trains were all facing disruption.

The freezing temperatures and snow and icy conditions are taking their toll across the rest of the UK.

In Essex, a 59-year-old man was killed when the car he was driving left the road.

A woman, believed to be in her 20s, also died after being found collapsed in the snow in Deal, Kent.

A teenager is fighting for his life after suffering head injuries in a sledging accident in Middlesbrough.

And a man was taken to hospital in Kent with broken bones in his face when he was racially attacked after confronting a group of youngsters who were throwing snowballs at him.

On the roads, snow closed two major routes across the Pennines, the A628 Woodhead Pass and the A66 between Brough and Bowes.

More than 100 schools in Lancashire were forced to close due to snow, with areas badly affected including Pendle, Burnley, Rossen- dale, Chorley and West Lancashire.

Thousands of children got an extra day off as schools remained closed in counties to the north and east of London. In some cases, parents were asked to bring shovels to help clear paths to enable them to open.

matty.sutton@ eveningtimes.co.uk