Motorists were warned to beware icy conditions in many parts of Britain on Monday after the weekend's snow, but flights from Heathrow airport were returning to normal after heavy cancellations.

 

The Met office issued yellow warnings meaning that "ice is likely to be a hazard on roads and pavements" in 10 areas including much of England, southern Wales and the Grampians amid a Europe-wide cold snap that has claimed more than 300 lives.

 

But Heathrow airport said its schedule was returning to normal after 50 percent of the 1,300 flights planned for Sunday were canceled thanks to Saturday's snowfall of up to 16cm.

 

"Heathrow is open and our usual flight schedule is operating today," said a statement from the airport, the world's busiest air hub in terms of international passenger traffic.

 

"There will, however, be a handful of cancellations as result of yesterday's disruption. We advise passengers to contact their airlines to check before they come to the airport."

 

Thousands of passengers were stranded Sunday and many spent the night sleeping on terminal floors, but the airport defended its decision to axe the flights, saying cancelling them in advance meant more passengers could be shifted to other flights.

 

A series of car accidents took place early Monday morning in North Yorkshire, with a 25-mile section of the A1 northbound closed due to the collisions, though there were no reports of injuries.

 

Temperatures were set to warm in the west of England, moving up as high as 10 degrees Celsius, but in East Anglia and the south-east were only likely to reach 1 or 2 degrees.

 

Copyright 2012  AFP European Edition