THE ISLE OF WHITE
Tailbacks & power cuts add to snow woe for thousands Cold War 2 fear as Russia and US ditch nuke deal
THE isolated Welsh village of Pontrhydfendigaid lies partly cut off as Britain shivered under a blanket of snow and ice yesterday.
And if that sounds like a mouthful, spare a thought for the driver who had only the snow on his roof to eat overnight in a 10-mile tailback on the M3.
In Tulloch Bridge, north of Inverness, temperatures reached the UK’s coldest, plunging to -12.4C yesterday morning.
The winds, snow and ice brought travel chaos, including for Welsh rugby fans trying to get to Paris for the Six RUSSIA and America were on the brink of a new arms race last night after ditching a nukes treaty.
And Vladimir Putin seized the moment to promise to go ahead with new hypersonic nuclear missiles that could be impossible Nations. Many rural roads remained closed, and thousands were without power as drifts up to 5ft deep hampered engineers near Basingstoke, Hants.
Several of yesterday’s League One and League Two football matches had to intercept. He vowed to remove Russia from the IntermediateRange Nuclear Forces treaty after US President Donald Trump also ditched the agreement.
The 1987 deal, struck by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, kept missiles out of Europe and to be postponed. Last night the Met Office issued a yellow warning for ice across southern England, with temperatures of -16C overnight.
Drivers on the M3 were stuck for eight hours near Hook, Hants, after three lorries jackknifed.
In Kent, police had an “incredibly busy night” with collisions, stranded cars, and trees brought down by the snow near Chatham.
The Met Office said: “Overnight most places will be below zero but most snow will be replaced by rain.” was seen as key in ending the Cold War. But it collapsed in October when Trump accused Russia of developing missiles in breach of it.
On Friday US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted: “Time has run out. Tomorrow, the US will suspend its INF obligations and notify all parties of US intent to withdraw in six months.”
Russia had denied developing weapons that travel at five times the speed of sound – but said yesterday they would now do so.
The INF treaty bans groundlaunched missiles with a range of 310 miles to 3,415 miles. Backing the US, NATO blamed Russia’s “covert testing”, insisting: “Allies fully support this action.”
Ex US diplomat Professor Melvyn Levitsky said last night: “It’s a blow to arms control and could lead to a new arms race.”