A teenage girl was killed and 11 other pupils injured when their coach crashed in appalling conditions on Wednesday as heavy snow and strong winds battered Scotland and northern England.

Elsewhere motorists were stranded in their cars and thousands of homes were left without power as severe weather swept northern Britain.

Strathclyde Police said the coach accident happened on the A73 shortly before 6 a.m. near Wiston in South Lanarkshire in terrible weather conditions.

A 17-year-old girl died and three other children were seriously hurt. The pupils from Lanark Grammar School had been going on a trip to Alton Towers theme park in Staffordshire.

"Tragically one girl has died as a result of the crash. Two people were airlifted to Glasgow's Southern General Hospital and several others have been taken to local hospitals to be treated for their injuries," said Supt. Iain Murray.

"Our hearts go out to the people involved and their families at this sad time."

Murray said it appeared the coach, which was carrying 39 pupils and six adults including the driver, appeared to have lost control, struck a bridge parapet, left the road and then landed on its side in a river.

He said the weather was likely to have played a "major part" in the crash.

The Met Office said it expected blizzard conditions to continue, with as much as 30 cm of snow predicted in some areas. The early spring snowfall follows the harshest winter in 30 years in much of Britain.

"Snow, persistent and heavy at times, will continue through today," the Met Office said.

"Fresh snowfalls will quickly drift in the strong to gale force North wind with blizzard conditions developing."

Heavy rain was also forecast, prompting the Environment Agency to issue flood warnings for the northeast and parts of southern England, with much of the rest of the country put on flood watch.

Thousands of homes in Scotland and Northern Ireland were left without electricity on Tuesday evening after severe weather damaged power lines. Travel was also disrupted, with trains between border town Berwick-upon-Tweed and Edinburgh suspended due to a landslip.

Hundreds of people in Northern Ireland had to be rescued from their vehicles after becoming stuck in snow, and several roads in Scotland were closed on Wednesday due to the weather.


Reuters