More heavy snow caused havoc across Britain on Thursday, keeping Gatwick airport closed for a second day, disrupting rail services and leaving travellers stranded.

Commuters struggled to get to work as Britain's worst early winter weather in almost two decades showed no sign of easing its icy grip.

Met Office forecasters warned of severe weather and heavy snow, particularly in southern and eastern regions.

Days of sub-zero temperatures and snow, beginning in Scotland and northern England and moving south, have caused chaos and could be costing the economy 1.2 billion pounds a day, according to insurer RSA.

Gatwick, the country's second busiest airport, said it would remain closed until at least 6am on Friday because of more heavy snowfalls.

Edinburgh airport said it hoped to reopen at 4pm on Thursday, while London's smaller City Airport said it would stay closed until 2pm.

Amid widespread criticism of Britain's inability to cope with bad weather, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond ordered a review of how transport operators had responded this week.

'Complacency is not an option. There are lessons to be learned from our performance in every bout of bad weather and it is important that we learn those now,' he said in a statement.

Eurostar, which runs train services connecting Britain to France and Belgium, said it would be operating a 'significantly reduced timetable on Thursday' because of the bad weather. Services would be subject to delays of up to 90 minutes and some would be cancelled, it said.

Southern Railway, which runs trains between London and England's south coast, said all its services were suspended because of heavy snowfall, although it would begin a limited service in the London area.

Ice created hazardous conditions on roads across the country. Two people died when a car collided with a Royal Mail box van in Cumbria early on Thursday, police said.

Around 200 drivers spent a second night sleeping in their vehicles or at a nearby village hall in Yorkshire while passengers on a train to Brighton had to sleep in the carriages, the BBC reported.

Thousands of schools were expected to remain closed, some for the fourth day in a row.-Reuters