LONDON, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Britons were urged Christmas Eve to stay home for the holiday to avoid freezing rain that made highways treacherous and forced airlines to cancel flights.
The Automobile Association warned of "treacherous black ice" in much of the country, the Daily Mail reported.
"If possible, stay at home for Christmas where you will be safe," the association said. "If you have planned to visit relatives or friends try to postpone Christmas for a day or two and celebrate it on Boxing Day or Dec. 27 when the weather is expected to improve."
The bad weather that has lingered for days has been blamed for at least 19 deaths. They include: two women killed in a bus crash Wednesday near Penzance, Cornwall; a man, 53, who suffered a fatal heart attack while shoveling snow in Kirkby-in-Furness in Cumbria; a man whose brother found him dead in his car Wednesday in Leeds; an apparent victim of the cold; and a man who fell backward on a slippery floor while carrying his young daughter through Waverly Station in Edinburgh.
The bad weather affected every mode of transportation, with planes delayed or canceled, trains running late and some highways closed because of ice.
EuroStar, the under-English Channel rail service that shut down last weekend because of weather-related problems, promised to get everyone with a ticket dated Dec. 19 or late to their destination by Christmas. Anyone without a ticket was told to stay home.
