Thousands of people face further disruption to their Christmas travel plans as cold weather continues to grip much of the country.

BA cancelled all short-haul flights out of Heathrow while Eurostar passengers in London queued round the block.

BAA has apologised for spoiling so many people's Christmases, but Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said aviation was a "safety-first business".

In Essex, the conditions led to a death when a man fell through ice on a lake.

The unnamed man, in his 30s, was dragged out of the lake at Rochford, near Southend, on Sunday afternoon but died later in hospital.

Heathrow airport officials told passengers with flights scheduled to depart from terminals 1 or 3 not to travel to the airport as extreme congestion meant no more passengers were being accepted into the buildings.

They added that no more than a third of all flights would operate until 0600 GMT on Wednesday and warned passengers to expect delays and cancellations possibly until Christmas Day.

    * At Gatwick, 600 flights were taking off and landing at the airport on Monday, but several hundred people remained stuck at the airport.
    * Cardiff Airport will be shut until at least 1700 GMT.
    * Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Birmingham, Luton, London City, Bristol and Southampton airports all said flights would be subject to delays and cancellations.
    * Exeter has closed a runway until at least 1900 GMT. Flybe has cancelled all departures from there on Monday.
    * Stansted is said to be operating as normal.
    * Elsewhere in Europe, there was severe disruption at airports in Frankfurt, Paris, Florence and Amsterdam.

Passengers in a Heathrow terminal Congestion at Heathrow terminals has prompted a call for people to stay away

There was also disruption to road and rail travel on Monday:

    * Driving conditions on the M5 in Somerset were described as "treacherous" with reports of motorists abandoning cars on the motorway
    * Some London-Leeds and London-York services were cancelled on the East Coast Main Line.
    * No trains are running between Birmingham New Street and Coventry.

People at St Pancras station queued for five hours for Eurostar services to the continent, which was also suffering from severe weather. The station was so busy, many had to wait outside, lined up around the terminal building.

Eurostar is now asking all passengers with bookings to stay away from St Pancras, as they try to clear the huge backlog.

One worker at St Pancras estimated there were 3,500 people - most of them families - queuing outside the station.

A Salvation Army tea truck was serving hot drinks, and spirits were surprisingly relaxed despite Eurostar staff "keeping out of public view," he told the BBC.

BBC producer Nicki Stiastny, who is trying to get to France, said British Transport Police angered many when they stopped letting people join the end of the queue.

Meanwhile, the Met Office has warned of more snow and ice in many parts of the country.

BBC weather forecaster John Hammond said Devon and Cornwall bore the brunt of the snow on Monday morning, with 20cm falling in parts. Wales saw between 2cm and 5cm.