The first major snowfalls in Britain this winter Wednesday disrupted public transport services as British Airways (BA) said it had cancelled 16 short-haul flights from London airports due to the wintry conditions, dpa reported. Road and rail traffic was particularly hard hit in the south-east of London, as the wintry weather moved down from northern parts of Britain. The disruption was most acute in the London area and its immediate surroundings as commuters struggled to get to work. BA said the problems at Heathrow airport, where 13 flights were cancelled, were due to de-icing. A further three flights from Gatwick airport were scrapped and there were delays of up to an hour. The deepest snow recorded by the Met Office was a layer of 4 centimetres measured in parts of Oxfordshire, north-west of London. Further snowfalls were forecasts for later Wednesday.
