Big freeze hits games across Britain

Aston Villa's home game against Leicester, Liverpool's trip to Bradford, Everton v Leeds and West Ham v Chelsea have all been postponed because of bad weather. In Scotland, four games have so far been hit, with Rangers and Celtic both out of action.

The pitch at Villa Park is playable because of undersoil heating, but adverse weather conditions have caused problems on the roads approaching the ground.

A Villa spokesman said: "Whilst the pitch is not a problem, it is not the case with the terracing, the approach roads to the ground and car parks which are in a dangerous condition.

"There was also the consideration that the temperatures are not scheduled to go above freezing in the next 24 hours so there was unlikely to be any major, if any, improvement in conditions."

Everton's match with Leeds at Goodison Park was called off on Friday lunchtime, again due to the freezing temperatures.

West Ham, meanwhile, had to call their off their game against London rivals Chelsea on Saturday morning.

However, one of the big games of the weekend, Newcastle United v Manchester United, will go ahead after the St James' Park pitch survived an inspection on Saturday morning.

In Scotland, Aberdeen's home clash with St Mirren and Celtic's match-up with Motherwell were the first to be called off. Kilmarnock's game with Rangers was next to fall.