County has wintry time ahead

Shropshire today braced itself for a white Easter as a "huge" engineering programme got under way, crippling parts of Britain's rail network.Timetables on some of the country's busiest routes, including the West Coast Mainline, were slashed to one train per hour or fewer as operators ran weekend services to make way for major track-laying and bridge repair jobs.

But amid fears that the disruption would drive millions on to the roads, motoring groups said the expected pressure on traffic appeared to have already peaked.

Shropshire Star weatherman John Warner warned snow was on the way early on Easter Sunday after a weekend of wintry showers and sunshine.

Overnight winds of 50 to 60mph saw a tree bring down power cables at Eyton-upon-the-Weald Moors and a fallen tree blocked a road between Llanyblodwel and Pen-y-bont Llanerch Emerys.

Mr Warner said temperatures today would be about 7C, (45F) but feel like it was below freezing.

The cold weather was likely to continue until Tuesday, he said.

Meanwhile, the first among two million travellers have already headed off for a sun-soaked weekend abroad, but England's drivers and train passengers face the misery of rain, wind, sleet and snow.

After gridlock in some areas last night, as predicted, the RAC said major routes across the country were flowing relatively freely today.

And shoppers are stocking up on comfort food as Britain braces itself for a bitterly cold bank holiday, a survey revealed today.

Sales of soups, pies and curries have all risen over the last two days.