UK weather: two pensioners die in frozen gardens

Police in Cumbria believe a pensioner collapsed in her garden and froze to death yesterday morning.

Officers discovered the body of Lillian Jenkinson, 80, in her back garden in Workington, Cumbria, at 10.40am.

The day before an elderly man was also found dead in his garden in Kirby Stephen, also in Cumbria. It is not currently known how long he lay undetected.

Assistant chief constable Jerry Graham said: “Two elderly people have tragically died in their gardens in the last week and we know they were closely supported by family and neighbours.

“However not everyone has that support. So I would ask everyone to keep an eye out for vulnerable people in their community, particularly those who are elderly and live alone.”

The deaths came as Britain continued to suffer from heavy snow and freezing temperatures.

The Met Office this morning said that only Northern and the North West of Britain will continue to experience heavy snow, with the majority of regions getting off to a bright start.

Gatwick reopens

The less adverse conditions has meant that Gatwick, Britain’s second busiest airport, was able to reopen this morning, but major delays and cancellations are still expected to cause commuter chaos.

A statement on the airport’s website said: “Our advice to passengers remains – do not travel to the airport without first checking with your airline to make sure that your flight is departing today.

But icy roads are widespread, Robin Hood Airport in Doncaster will remain closed until Monday and trains services all across Britain continue to suffer delays.

Eurostar, c2c, East Coast, London Overground, Southern, East Midlands, First Hull and South West Trains all warning of disruptions to services.

And there will be complete cancellations on lines operated by First TransPennine, South Eastern, First Capital, Northern Rail, CrossCountry and First Great Western.

It was been another cold night across the UK – temperatures dipped to -20.1C in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, and -7C in Birmingham.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond warned train companies yesterday to keep stranded passengers better informed but said transport problems were inevitable as a blanket of snow and ice covers Britain.

However, at least 31 passengers travelling on a sleeper train towards Glasgow were left stranded aboard for three hours with no heating after its brakes froze.

Mr Hammond, who was told to “get a grip” after cancellations left thousands of people high and dry, said he had heard “far too many stories” about people being unable to obtain information about train services.

Mr Hammond has taken the step of writing to all train operators reminding them to ensure all passengers are kept fully informed.

He said: “With the amount of snowfall we’ve seen the last few days, some disruption to train services is to be expected.

“But what is completely unacceptable is for rail passengers to be kept in the dark about what is happening with their services.

“My message to the train operators is clear: passengers must be kept informed. We will be monitoring their performance on this very carefully while this situation continues.”

On the roads, police forces in Kent and Surrey continued to advise drivers to only travel if necessary as the low temperatures turned snow into ice.

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