More heavy snow predicted for England as frigid weather blasts Europe

Forecasters say the United Kingdom will remain in the grip of bitter winter weather through at least Monday.

"Heavy snow showers Sunday will affect northeast England and eastern parts of Scotland as a snow system comes in off the North Sea," said Met Office Special Forecaster Tony Burgess. "Southern England should not see much snow Sunday, Heathrow and Gatwick will hopefully improve, and northern Ireland will see a bit of respite," he said.

Burgess added that another series of weather systems will move into the area, warning, "There is another risk of [heavy snow] across England and south Wales on Monday."

A spokesman for Heathrow airport operator BAA told CNN, "We have a team working very hard around the clock to do everything to prepare the airport for operation." BAA is sending similar information out as Twitter messages.

Frigid temperatures and extreme conditions continued to pummel Europe Saturday. Snow, ice and fog have caused travel chaos ahead of a busy holiday travel week.

From Northern Ireland to Bulgaria, blizzard conditions left airports with heavy delays or shut them entirely.

London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports closed all runways Saturday afternoon because of heavy snow and ice, though Gatwick reopened at 3 p.m. after clearing 4 inches of snow from the tarmac. Despite the reopening, the airport warned of "inevitable" delays and cancellations throughout the day.

British Airways canceled all Saturday domestic and European flights at Heathrow. On Saturday night the airport announced it would be closed indefinitely.

All easyJet and British Airways flights -- with the exception of a flight to Egypt -- were canceled out of Gatwick as well.

Police closed several access roads surrounding the airports due to dangerous driving conditions.

The delays and cancellations extended across Europe -- to Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Geneva, Switzerland; Munich, Germany; Paris, France; and Copenhagen, Denmark.

Heavy snowfall also forced the closing of Hungary's Budapest Ferihegy International Airport on Saturday. It had reopened by 4:30 p.m.

The relentless weather caused approximately 250 flights to be cancelled and thousands of passengers stranded at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on Friday, according to airport spokeswoman Antoinette Spaans.

"We are expecting more delays due to weather conditions," Spaans said Saturday. "The most delays and cancellations are expected to affect air traffic within Europe," she added.