Girl killed in school coach crash as heavy snow hits UK
Superintendent Iain Murray of Strathclyde Police on the bus crash
Heavy snow and strong winds in parts of the UK have brought travel chaos to roads and cuts to power supplies.
Natasha Paton, 17, from Cleghorn, was killed when a school coach on a trip to Alton Towers crashed on the A73 at Wiston, near Biggar, South Lanarkshire.
Police rescued 300 people from vehicles including a school bus stuck in snow on the Glenshane Pass, near Londonderry.
Some 48,000 homes in Northern Ireland and at least 24,000 in Scotland are without power after lines came down.
'Horrendous' conditions
The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings in Scotland for areas such as the Highlands, Grampian, Aberdeenshire, Lothian and Borders. Snow could also affect high parts of England and Wales.
BBC weather forecaster Laura Tobin said Scotland was likely to see the worst of the weather on Wednesday morning.
The conditions here are absolutely atrocious and the roads are very, very slippy
Crash eyewitness Bill Ward
Teenage girl dies in coach crash
Heavy snow creates travel chaos
Motorists freed from trapped cars
Spring snow hits parts of Wales
The Manchester area, Lancashire, Cumbria and the Welsh mountains are also likely to experience snowfall during the day.
The school coach was carrying 39 students from Lanark Grammar School, five members of staff and a driver.
The vehicle left the road and finished on its side just after 0600 BST.
Three other children were seriously injured and there were minor injuries to eight people. Two people were airlifted to hospital in Glasgow.
NHS Lanarkshire said 44 people in total had received hospital treatment following the crash, 19 of whom remained in various hospitals around Lanarkshire and Glasgow.
The health board said all the patients were in a stable condition.
And South Lanarkshire Council said its "thoughts and prayers" were with Natasha's family.
Strathclyde Police said the crash was being investigated but road conditions were "horrendous".
Power cuts
Ch Insp Steven Cargin, of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said the Glenshane Pass rescue operation had involved police, mountain rescue and coastguard workers.
Motorists were taken to Dungiven Leisure Centre, in Derry, only for a power failure to strike, forcing them to relocate to nearby Limavady and Maghera.
Some had spent 10 hours in their vehicles without food and drink.
Police said no-one had been injured in the operation, although nine people had refused to leave their vehicles.
Officers said driving conditions across Northern Ireland were "treacherous" and advised motorists to slow down.
In other developments:
•ScottishPower said 19,000 homes in central and southern Scotland were without electricity
•Scottish and Southern Energy said around 5,000 homes in its area were without power
•The Llanberis Pass in North Wales has been closed due to heavy snow. Driving conditions on other routes in Snowdonia, including the A5 and the A4244, are described as very difficult
•Snow has disrupted travel across the Grampian region, with the A96 closed between Huntly and Colpy
•Motorists were also warned to avoid the A90 between Stonehaven and Laurencekirk
•Vehicles were stuck in various places in Aberdeenshire overnight
•The A9 was closed at Drumochter in the Highlands
•Some roads were difficult or impassable in the Borders, and in central Edinburgh two men had a lucky escape after a tree fell on their car
•The East Coast Main Line has been closed between Edinburgh and Berwick-Upon-Tweed after flooding and two landslips
•There are no ferry services between Scotland and Northern Ireland
•Flights to and from Belfast International Airport are subject to cancellations and delays
Meanwhile, police in Northumberland urged motorists to be careful on the roads because of poor visibility and heavy rainfall.
The Environment Agency has 11 flood warnings in place in England and Wales - 10 in the North East and one in Wales.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has one flood warning in place, which is for the River Esk.
