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Willie Walsh: "We are facing significant disruption at Heathrow for some days to come"
Thousands of people face further disruption to their Christmas travel plans as cold weather conditions continue to grip much of the country.
British Airways is hoping 60 flights will depart Heathrow on Monday morning, but dozens more have been cancelled.BAA has apologised to people who were forced to sleep in the terminal but Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said aviation was a "safety-first business".
Gatwick, Stansted, Edinburgh and Birmingham airports are open.
Meanwhile, the Met Office has warned of more snow and ice in many parts of the country.
A "bitterly cold" day is forecast, with freezing fog.
Southern England and south Wales were among those in the "firing line" for Monday, said BBC weather forecaster Helen Willetts, with 5-10cm of snowfall that could coincide with both the morning and evening rush hours.
The Wales Ambulance Service has warned of potential "long delays" in responding to 999 calls.
There were also warnings of more heavy snow for much of Scotland and north-east England, with up to 10cm of snow expected in northern Scotland.
The lowest UK temperature overnight, recorded in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, was thought to be -19.6C. Northern Ireland had another bitterly cold night, with -18C recorded at Castlederg in County Tyrone.
Hundreds of people had to spend another night at Heathrow airport Airport operator BAA said further cancellations and delays at Heathrow would be inevitable.
But many passengers were unhappy with their treatment.
Sarah Randall, from Hertfordshire, said she was stranded at the airport with her husband, parents and three children - aged six to 11 - after their Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong was cancelled on Saturday morning.
She said they slept on the floor on Saturday night and that her children were still traumatised by the experience.
She complained: "The weather was beyond their control, I know, but my gripe is the disgraceful way all passengers have been treated and abandoned."
She said the family is now back at home after her husband walked through the snow to flag down a taxi on the M4 slip road but they are yet to find out if the £16,000 cost of their "dream trip" to Hong Kong and Bali will be refunded.
Mr Hammond said he was aware of the "outrage" of passengers but he added: "We have had very extreme conditions and aviation is a safety-first business and the conditions at Heathrow have made it difficult for aviation to operate."
BAA spokesman Andrew Teacher told the BBC: "We had five inches of snow in an hour on Saturday afternoon and hundreds of planes parked when the snow came down. We have drafted in hundreds of people to clear the snow and thousands of people have been put up in hotels near the airport.
"Inevitably some people are at the airport and I'm not going to sit here and say it has gone well. We are extremely sorry for the disruption to people's journeys.
"People are in the lounges and all over the airport. We have given out thousands of blankets, food vouchers, bottles of water and there is free wi-fi. Things are improving slowly."
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Mr Teacher said: "We are not trying to shun responsibility but Heathrow is not the same as an airport in Finland or Istanbul. If you had a Heathrow in Finland the same thing would happen. If you have 200 planes and five inches of snow you are going to get this."
He said the north runway was open but the south runway was still closed and staff were working "around the clock" to get it cleared.Mr Teacher also pointed out safety was the top priority and said: "If there was a crash or a plane skidded off the runway we would have people saying 'why didn't you close the runway?'."
The BBC's Asha Tanna, at Heathrow, said: "Airline bosses have been meeting to discuss how many flights will be able to operate once the weather improves but with forecasters predicting further snow and freezing fog passengers are now being advised not to travel and to cancel their trips and get a full refund instead."
There is expected to be some disruption to rail travel on Monday as people return to work after the weekend and, with France also suffering severe weather, Eurostar said people should not travel unless it is necessary.
It also said speed restrictions and delays were expected.
The Foreign Office has updated its travel advice for France, warning of disruption to road, rail and air travel in the country.
- Driving conditions on the M5 in Somerset are described as "treacherous" and there are reports of motorists abandoning their cars on the motorway.
- Most schools in England have already closed for the Christmas break but 472 schools have had to shut early in Northern Ireland, 170 in Wales and at least 50 in Scotland.
- Elsewhere in Europe there were severe disruptions at airports in Frankfurt, Paris, Florence, and Amsterdam.
BA chief executive Willie Walsh admitted the company had not done enough to communicate with passengers already at Heathrow about their flights.
A Gatwick spokeswoman said it was doing everything it could to "get passengers on their way" but advised them to check with airlines before setting out.Stansted, Luton, Exeter, London City, Birmingham, Bristol and Southampton airports said flights would be subject to delays and cancellations.
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has asked the government's chief scientific adviser for advice on whether the government should be planning for more severe weather in future, but shadow transport minister Maria Eagle accused him of complacency.
The Highways Agency has said it is doing its best to keep major roads in England clear, but that motorists should check traffic and weather conditions before considering whether to go out.
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