Two people are thought to be fighting for their lives and several others were also injured after a three-car collision on the M1 in the early hours of Saturday that threatened to create long delays for Christmas travellers.
The northbound and southbound carriageways were closed between junctions 13 (Bedford) and 12 (Flitwick) after the accident, which took place just after 2.30am.
A spokeswoman for Bedfordshire police said: “Several people were injured and have been taken to hospital for treatment. Two people are thought to have suffered life-threatening injuries while a number of others are being treated for less serious injuries.”
Highways England said the closure was affecting traffic heading to Luton airport and London. The northbound carriageway reopened at around 8.20am, and authorities were in the process of reopening one lane on the southbound carriageway as the vehicles were removed from the scene.
The accident comes on the second day of expected disruption to travel and power supplies as severe weather warnings remain in place for Christmas Eve.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said that as of 9am on Saturday, engineers had restored power to more than 21,000 homes in the north of Scotland after the country was battered by Storm Barbara, which at its height brought wind speeds of more than 80mph and lightning strikes.
Further weather warnings are in place for Christmas Day and Boxing Day with a second storm, Storm Conor, expected to bring more high winds and a risk of lightning to the Western Isles, north-west Highlands, Orkney and Shetland.
A lightning strike affected around 13,000 customers in Lewis and Harris, though all homes were reconnected within two hours. A total of 762 customers remain without power as a result of localised faults on the islands of Lewis, Jura and Shetland.
Dale Cargill, SSEN’s director of customer operations, said the network was prepared to respond quickly to disruption to supplies where it was safe to do so. “We are acutely aware of the time of year and the increasing concern this brings and would like to reassure our customers we will be doing all we can to keep disruption to a minimum,” he said.
Ferry services remain subject to cancellations and revised schedules and many bridges are subject to high wind warnings but ScotRail said it planned to run services as scheduled on Christmas Eve with the possibility of some minor alterations.
The Met Office issued yellow “be aware” warnings for Scotland’s central belt and northwards on Saturday, warning of wintry showers affecting large parts of Scotland in the morning.
The most frequent snow showers were expected to fall north of the central belt with 5-10cm of snow possible on higher ground.
An amber alert for Storm Conor has been issued for the far north of the country on Boxing Day.
Dean Hall, a Met Office forecaster, said: “There will still be strong winds associated with Storm Barbara affecting the north of Scotland into Saturday morning. For Christmas Eve there is a north/south split across the UK. We still have very gusty, squally conditions across much of Scotland and the north of England and Northern Ireland with further showers, some heavy at times and turning wintry over higher ground.
“Through the day the next weather system is coming in which is the start of Storm Conor, that’s going to bring more persistent rain in Northern Ireland, western Scotland and north-west England. That will herald the arrival of Storm Conor through Christmas Day but the main impact will not be realised until Boxing Day. On Christmas Eve, England and Wales will get away with a much drier and brighter day.”
Scotland’s transport minister, Humza Yousaf, urged people to check the latest sources of information before they travelled and to keep in mind that the situation could change quickly.
“They should leave plenty of time to get to where they need to be and the transport operators are doing what they can to help people arrive at their destinations and get any last-minute festive shopping done safely,” he said.
“We shall be continuing to monitor the situation over the festive period including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day to make sure that the most reliable and relevant information is being communicated to people as early as possible.”
Highways England said 448 miles of roadworks on motorways and major roads had been suspended or completed, leaving 98% of roads free of works until 3 January.
But rail disruption is expected to cause trouble for holidaymakers, with a number of lines closed for an extended period as Network Rail carries out up to 200 improvement projects costing £103m.
No trains are operating to or from London Paddington between Christmas Eve and Thursday because of work to build Crossrail. As a result, Heathrow Express services will be suspended for six days and Great Western Railway trains will terminate at Ealing Broadway.
Southern rail warned passengers to expect a severely reduced and disrupted service between 31 December and 2 January owing to a strike by conductors. The Rail, Maritime and Transport union has confirmed the three-day action will go ahead.
Engineering work will also affect passengers travelling in Manchester and Cardiff.