Heavy snow and freezing rain brought widespread disruption across Europe on Sunday, particularly in the UK and Germany, with several major airports forced to suspend flights.

The National Grid, which oversees the UK's electricity network, said it had been working to restore power after outages across the country. Power cuts were reported in the English cities of Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, and Wales.

Liverpool's John Lennon Airport and Manchester Airport had to close runways overnight, but were returning to normal on Sunday. Leeds Bradford Airport took longer to get flights back in the air.

The road network was heavily impacted too on what would have been a very busy day with many families returning home from the Christmas and New Year's break, and students heading back to universities.

Many roads had been pre-emptively closed by local authorities, but stranded vehicles and collisions caused disruption elsewhere.

A number of UK train services were cancelled, with National Rail warning of disruption continuing into the working week.

Britain's main weather forecaster, the Met Office, says sleet and snow will continue to push north on Sunday and will be heaviest in northern England and into southern Scotland.

Snow and ice were also causing havoc in Germany, where a bout of wintry weather is spreading from the southwest. Authorities have issued black ice warnings for drivers and pedestrians, advising people to stay home where possible. (AP)