Hospitals have cut services and shops are rumoured to
be running out of food as Kent faces another night of misery
amid plunging temperatures.

Police have sent out continued warning to drivers not
to travel unless your journey is absolutely necessary.

Kent Highway Services also sent out an ice warning just after
3pm.

It said: "Road surface temperatures in Kent will remain below
freezing point for the next 24 hours with some further snow
showers, overnight temperatures will fall much further with an
increased risk of icy patches."

East
Kent Hospitals Trust, which operate the QEQM at Margate, the
William Harvey Hospital at Ashford and the Kent and Canterbury
Hospital at Canterbury, has cancelled all outpatient appointment
clinics with immediate effect.

A trust spokesman said: "A
number of patients with booked outpatient appointments have been
having great difficulty getting in to their local hospital and some
staff have been having difficulty getting to work.

"This is despite the trust’s patient
transport service drivers going out in four wheel drive vehicles to
bring in as many people as possible."

Fears have also emerged that shops - many of which haven't
had deliveries for days - will start running out of food.

One shopper told KentOnline that Tesco in West Malling had just
one loaf of bread left.

It came as a heavy downfall struck overnight. Some parts of
the county woke up to more than 15cm of snow.

To find out what's happening in your area listen to kmfm's round-up of all Kent's snow news today.

That didn't stop KentOnline readers sending in their snaps
though - including David Lang, from Rochester, who
sent in the pic above of his daughter Nicola enjoying a spot of
sun-bathing.

David Bellchambers, of Mill Hall, also sent
in the stunning picture below taken by his daughter
April, of the old bridge at Aylesford.

And Georgina Green sent in a snap of her dog Blade taking a
nose dive into the snow in Kemsley, Sittingbourne.

Meanwhile, a false rumour spread in Medway that there will be a
power cut affecting
Medway, Dartford and
Gravesend and even other parts of the county.
KentOnline can confirm that is not true.

A series of events has also been cancelled across the county,
including the Demelza Carol Concert at Canterbury
Cathedral tomorrow night.

A Demelza spokeswoman said: "In the interests of the
safety of our supporters and due to the adverse weather conditions
we have made the difficult decision to cancel.

"We will, of course, be offering a full refund to anyone who has
bought tickets."

Reports on Twitter say Whitstable's Christmas lights switch on
has also been cancelled.

Misery continues on the rail network as Southeastern's entire
service was hit.

A spokesman for the rail operator said: "Due to the current
weather conditions, services are being disrupted across the entire
network.

"We are currently only able to run a very limited service."

Arriva's buses are also badly hit for the second day
running.

A spokesman for the bus operator said this afternoon: "Most
areas still have no service, due to road conditions, but there is a
limited service now running in the Maidstone
area."

Kent Air Ambulance will be flying if needed though -
however the team will closely watch the weather to see if
conditions change.

If the service cannot fly, crews - including a specialist
doctor and special care paramedic - will be responding by car.

Some of crew members stayed at the base last night so they could
be available.

Blizzard conditions struck Dover and
Folkestone making driving treacherous on the
main A20.

Both bridges on and off Sheppey are shut -
cutting off the entire island.

And phase one of Operation Stack is still in force on the M20,
having been implemented yesterday.

This morning KM reporter Tricia Jamieson, who lives in
River, near Dover, measured nearly six inches of
snow in her garden.

"It is still snowing so goodness knows how much we will end up
with," she said.

"Driving home from a job in Folkestone last night was very
hairy.

"Lorries were struggling on the A20 and the falling snow made
visibility poor."

Forecasters have predicted temperatures are set to hit -8C
tonight in Maidstone.

The town's borough council also said today it has suspended
rubbish collections as workers were moved to clearing snow and
ice.

It said: "All services have been suspended today.

"We are sorry for any inconvenience. Please leave your refuse
out for collection next week.

"Our refuse crews will be working to clear our streets and
footpaths so that other services and the refuse collection can get
back to normal as soon as possible."

The snow is also huge causing disruption in
Thanet, with dozens of schools closed and
hazardous driving conditions on most routes across the isle. Rural
roads are impassable in places.

Public transport is badly affected in the area. All Stagecoach
services are suspended, with the exception of the Thanet Loop,
which is running between Ramsgate Harbour and
Westwood Cross, and The Breeze (route 8/8A)
between Margate, Westgate-on-Sea
and Birchington-on-Sea.

Waste and recycling collections have been suspended.

Mark Seed, director of environmental services at Thanet council,
said: "Although our staff have been able to get into work, the
problem is getting our trucks out on the road to make the
collections.

"We have 26-ton vehicles and once those start to skid on an icy
road, it's almost impossible to stop them."

Insp Mark Pearson, of Kent Police, was a live studio guest on
the kmfm for Thanet breakfast show.

He told presenter Johnny Lewis that drivers should not travel
unlesss absolutely necessary.

Motorists travelling even short distances should carry a shovel,
torch, warm clothing and a fully-charged mobile phone, he
warned.

In Folkestone, firefighters had to
walk to the station in Park Farm Road from their homes in
neighbouring villages so there could be a crew ready to work
today.

Watch manager Vic Thorogood, of blue watch, said: "I am thrilled
with them.

"I walked in from Seabrook and as I was doing
so the guys were calling me to say they were on their way.

"We have a full crew and snow chains for the engine so we are
ready to respond to calls."

Two crew members walked in from Densole and
another from Capel.

More schools are closed and the county's train network has taken
a hammering again.

North Kent is one of the worst affected areas with a series of roads shut. See the latest closures below. Kent Police has advised motorists to avoid the M20 due to the heavy snow and severe blizzards which is causing significant delays and extremely hazardous driving conditions. The slip roads onto the M20 coastbound at Junctions 8, 9 and 10 remain closed due to blizzard conditions and freezing temperatures in the area.

Diversions are in place via junction 7 on M20 for A249 Detling Hill. And Operation Stack - put into force yesterday - remains in place.

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Keep up-to-date with the travel news by listening to kmfm.

Follow KentOnline's latest updates at @kent_online

Kent Police also tweeting all the latest traffic news at @kent_police.

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The earlier diversion off at M20 junction 6 for Bluebell Hill has been replaced, due to vehicles having difficulty making it up Bluebell Hill due to snow and ice. A Kent Police spokesman said: "Motorists are again advised not to travel unless their journey is absolutlely essential. "They are advised to use A2/M2 and avoid the M20 (junctions 8, 9, 10) due to the heavy snow which has settled, extremely poor visibility, and stationery traffic caused by Operation Stack. "Although M20 London-bound has no reported incidents, the carriageways are also treacherous with heavy snow and blizzards are causing very poor visibility. "If you choose to travel expect severe delays."

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M20 - junctions 5-6 reduced to one lane due to

snow. Junctions 10 to 8 is almost impassable. Severe delays

M2 - junctions 4-3 is very icy. Junctions 2-4

London-bound is almost impassable due to snowfall

M25 - reduced to one lane between junctions

2-3

M26 - Junctions 2-4 London-bound is almost

impassable

New Sheppey Crossing is closed - diversion via

Kingsferry Bridge

A2 - London-bound before Cobham is proving very

difficult for HGVs due to ice

A249 - Detling Hill - Reduced to one lane

Maidstone-bound,

A2 - Gravesend East and Swanscombe - reduced to

one lane

A20 - Swanley Interchange - slow moving

traffic

A20 - Heading towards Folkestone, drivers warned

to be cautious due to icy conditions. Dover to Capel stretch of A20

is almost impassable due to snow

A299 Thanet Way - heading London-bound near Herne

Bay, passable but with care

Medway Tunnel - Berwick Way dual carriageway out

of tunnel, two lorries stuck

A28 - Calcott Hill, Canterbury Road to Herne

condtions are very poor. Charing Hill treacherous. A28 Junc with

A262 approx seven inches of snow

A259 - Brenzett has heavy snow laying on

roads

A258 - Walmer Road is almost impassable

A257 - Sandwich to Wingham passable with

care

A228 at Kingshill very dangerous road conditions.

And at West Peckham five inches of snow. At Sundridge Hill, two

lorries are stuck

A26 - Mereworth - very icy hazardous

conditions

Willington Street, Maidstone - closed

Linton Hill, Maidstone - closed

Whitfield Hill and Whitfield rounabout, Dover -

closed

Edenbridge - deep snow, many roads

impassable

Four Elms Hill, Chattenden - impassable

East Hill, Dartford - tree down and conditions

very poor

Hoath Way, Gillingham - jack knifed lorry and

carriageways impassable