With many schools closed, train services reduced,
and some roads impassable, today looks like being a stay-at-home
day for many Dartford residents.

The borough was again hit with freezing temperatures overnight,
making already icy surfaces even more hazardous.

Police have this morning said that all main roads in north Kent
are open, but a broken down vehicle in the middle lane of the
coastbound A2 at Cobham has been causing delays.

Meanwhile, Kent County Council says it has enough grit to last
the county for the next two weeks.

On the railways commuters again woke up to a morning of
disruption, with half-hourly services in and out of London thanks
to an emergency timetable from Southeastern.

Several schools are closed today, some with broken boilers,
while others are monitoring the weather and are prepared to send
pupils home if conditions worsen.

Dartford council says its services, including rubbish
collections, are operating as normal, but some street cleaning
has been delayed so its contractors, Enterprise, have
been helping Kent Highways with the gritting of some
pavements.

Fairfield Pool and Leisure Centre is operating under
revised opening hours due to the weather conditions, between
8am and 9pm from today (Friday) until Monday, January 11.

~ Video round-up: Kent's whiteout

>>>

~ Get the latest weather forecast for the region >>>

Road information (9.30am update):

• M20 has heavy snow but is open.
• 2 Harbledown London-bound two miles from Brenley Corner turn-off - heavy congestion due to snow with stationary traffic.
• A2 coast-bound before turn-off for Cobham, congestion due to a broken down vehicle in the middle lane.
• A299 Thanet Way has very heavy snow across all lanes.
• A290 Whitstable Road is very icy at the Canterbury end.
• A290 Honey Hill in Whitstable has a vehicle stuck and the carriageway is covered with snow.
• Heavy snow is laying on roads in Canterbury, Charing Hill and Faversham.
• Minster Road on the Isle of Sheppey is becoming impassable, even 4x4s are struggling.
• The Sheppey Crossing is open.

Tune into your local kmfm station for the latest travel
updates.

Trains:

Southeastern is running an emergency snow timetable. The best advice is to check the trains on the National Rail Enquiries website.

All high speed services will continue to run as per the normal
timetable and all passengers with a Southeastern ticket will be
able to use these services at no extra cost.

Tickets will be accepted on London Underground on reasonable routes.

Southeastern's Jon
Hay-Campbell explains how the high speed trains are able to run

Southeastern suffers in icy weather thanks to the nature of the
electrification system used in Kent and Sussex. Ice forms on the
third rail, which supplies power to trains, and acts as an
insulator.

The system was chosen in the 1920s and expanded in the late
1950s. Subsequent electrification schemes, including high speed
lines, have used the more reliable overhead line system.

Eurostar will continue to run a restricted service up to and including Sunday due to the weather conditions. There will be a number of cancellations including its very early and late evening services.

It recommends passengers cancel or postpone trips that are not a
necessity.

On Thursday, a Brussels to London Eurostar train got stuck in the Channel Tunnel.

Email your snow pictures to dartfordmessenger@thekmgroup.co.uk (don't forget to tell us where the pictures were taken and what they show)