Lingfield all-weather the sole survivor after cold snap claims three fixtures

The cold snap that has hit Britain tightened its grip on Tuesday, as four meetings were called off owing to the freezing conditions.

Of the day's four scheduled fixtures, only Lingfield's all-weather card managed to beat the elements. While the Tapeta surface at Wolverhampton was raceable, the areas surrounding the course were deemed too icy, leading to a cancellation.

Clerk of the course Fergus Cameron said: "Unfortunately, despite massive efforts, ancillary areas like the pre-parade ring and unsaddling areas are not safe.

"We had all the staff from Uttoxeter in, and worked the track overnight. It responded really well – the track is raceable – so it's hugely disappointing."

The fixture was quickly rescheduled for Wednesday, for what will be a second consecutive day of all-weather action only, following the loss of Ayr, Hexham and Lingfield's meetings over jumps.

Temperatures plunged to -7C overnight which left the track at Ayr frozen, while Uttoxeter's card had already been claimed by snow on Monday.

It was a similar tale for Wednesday's fixtures, with a fifth consecutive night of hard frosts proving too much for Hexham, while a combination of snow and ice accounted for Leicester's card.

Snow piled high outside the indoor schooling area at Jonjo O'Neill's Jackdaws Castle stableCredit: @JonjoONeill

Warwick will inspect at 8am on Wednesday for Thursday's fixture with the track covered by 10cm of snow on Monday. An inspection will be held at 8am on the morning of racing for Thursday's card at Newcastle.

Weather prospects

Tuesday
Ayr: Abandoned
Lingfield (AW): Temperatures as low as -4C forecast overnight
Uttoxeter: Abandoned
Wolverhampton (AW): Abandoned

Wednesday
Hexham: Abandoned
Kempton (AW): no problems anticipated
Leicester: Abandoned
Lingfield (AW): no problems anticipated
Wolverhampton (AW): no problems anticipated

Thursday
Chelmsford (AW): no problems anticipated
Newcastle: frozen in places, frost sheets down in vulnerable places, inspection 8am Thursday
Taunton: no problems anticipated
Warwick: inspection 8am Wednesday

Read The Briefing from 8.30am daily on racingpost.com with all the day's latest going, weather, market moves and non-runner news