New winter storm in UK strands travelers, train and bus service shut down

LONDON -- Hundreds of people were stranded across the U.K. Thursday night into Friday morning and the military was drafted to assist travelers in parts of England as the cold snap that's gripped the country this week showed no sign of abetting.

After a powerful weather system from Siberia caused misery across the U.K. earlier this week, Storm Emma is now battering the country with snow and freezing rain.

Passengers were stuck overnight on freezing cold trains that had lost power as record levels of snow were seen in some parts of the U.K. Some passengers were even caught on camera sleeping on overhead luggage racks.

Glasgow Airport closed while staff worked to clear the runways. Train and bus services across England, including the Eurostar from London to Paris, were canceled. Flights from London City, Gatwick, Birmingham and Manchester airports were also canceled on Friday morning.

A number of crashes were reported on the M40 highway connecting London and Birmingham.

Traffic on some highways had stopped for nine hours.

Kirsty McLeod of the Castle Hotel in Berwick upon Tweed told BBC Radio she decided to shelter additional people who were stranded after all hotels in the area sold out. She described families camped in the hotel lounge and restaurant floors while a local supermarket donated emergency blankets.