There were no Eurostar services from London this morning, after low temperatures caused several trains to fail inside the Channel Tunnel. Snow is also causing disruption on French railways.

2000 people were reported to have been stranded on four trains for up to six hours. Heating and lighting were lost on some of the trains when emergency power supplies failed.

It's thought the trains were affected by the sharp temperature gradients between the comparative warmth inside the tunnel and the freezing conditions outside.

Eurostar said everyone had left the Tunnel unharmed, but some passengers were critical of the length of time it took to rescue them, and also of a lack of communication on board the trains. One passenger told the BBC that people on his train, the fourth to be stalled, mounted a do-it-yourself evacuation and escaped from the Tunnel on board a Eurotunnel shuttle.

Eurostar was urging its passengers not to attempt to travel before midday, and warning that considerable disruption would continue over the rest of the weekend.

Meanwhile, SNCF routes have also been affected by the weather. Some RER services have been cancelled in the Paris area and delays are occurring on other lines. TGV and Thalys services are among those disrupted.

No serious problems were being reported on the British network on Saturday morning, but forecasters are predicting more snow in most parts of the country over the next two or three days.

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