LONDON, Feb 3: An icy night and forecasts of more heavy snow disrupted airports and schools across Britain for a second day on Tuesday with hundreds of flights delayed or cancelled.

Millions of Britons returned to work in the south east of England as transport systems stalled by Monday’s blizzards slowly returned to operation, but tens of thousands of children were given a another day off because schools across the country remained closed.

“I can’t believe it. I love snow,” said six-year-old Benedict Shorthose, gripped by the excitement of a prospect of a second day of snowball fights in snowy London.

Stung by criticism after the capital’s buses and underground trains came almost to a standstill on Monday, Transport for London issued early Tuesday reports of “good level of service across the vast majority of the Tube and bus network.”

Heathrow and Britain’s other airports were open but airport operator BAA said many flights would be delayed or cancelled.

The Met Office issued an extreme weather warning to motorists to beware of icy roads and drifting or heavy snow and said there was a risk of snowfalls and severe weather affecting many parts of Scotland.

According to Britain’s Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) the snow storm will cost the country’s already recession-hit economy up to 3.5 billion pounds ($5 billion).

The FSB, which has more than 215,000 members, estimated that more than six million people were off work on Monday -- one-fifth of the UK workforce, as transport networks ground to a near-halt after the heaviest snowfalls in Britain for 18 years.

The extreme weather conditions could not have come at a worse time for “UK PLC” with companies already struggling in the face of the most dire economic downturn seen in decades, but the federation feels this shouldn’t have been the case.

“One of the world’s biggest economies should not be grinding to a halt, even if it is only once every 10 years,” said Stephen Alambritis of the Federation of Small Businesses.

David Frost, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce business organisation accused authorities of complacency and a lack of planning for the extreme weather.

“There is more freak weather about and we shouldn’t just buckle to it. There should be more planning going into it,” he told BBC radio.

“When something like this does happen, we are caught very much on the hop.”

The image of the British capital buckling under a few centimetres of snow prompted commentators to make comparisons with World War Two, when even daily air raids by German bombers failed to halt London buses.

“Not even the Luftwaffe stopped the capital’s buses,” bemoaned the Daily Telegraph’s editorial writer.

“The very first instinct in the public sector these days is to give up, rather than battle with the elements.”—Reuters