Wednesday's papers

Pictures of snow on the front pages of nearly all the papers this morning as the Telegraph reports that he heaviest snowfall in almost 50 years is hitting parts of Britain as Arctic weather brought nationwide chaos.

According to the Mail,millions were caught up in chaos across the north of England and Scotland, which forecasters said would spread to the South today in what is already the longest cold spell since 1981.

The Guardian says that a government spokesman has said

"The weather is taking a turn for the worse,The Highways Agency has kept the vast majority of major road networks running. We are in close contact with local authorities and it is a situation we will keep a very close eye on."

While the Independent reports that the Met Office issued its highest level of alert, warning of an impending "extreme weather event" that would bring travel chaos and threaten power supplies.

Meanwhile a different freeze in the Times which says that Britain warned Iceland that it would be frozen out of the European Union after its President abruptly vetoed the repayment of a £3.6 billion loan.

The escalating row threatens to further destablise the Icelandic economy, says the Guardian adding that

Olafur Grimsson said he would force a referendum on the deeply unpopular legislation, causing a schism within the Icelandic government, with prime minister Johanna Sigurdardottir maintaining that the money would be repaid.

A new worrying craze on the front page of the Indy which reports that

Children are posting videos on the internet showing them choking other youngsters to the point of collapse, in a craze that doctors warn has led to brain damage and death.

To another of the week's main stories and the Sun reports that a father whose soldier son was killed in Afghanistan lashed out last night at the huge state handouts given to rabble-rousing Anjem Choudary.

According to the paper

The Muslim cleric's untaxed income of £25,740 is thousands more than 21-year-old gunner Jack Sadler was earning before he was blown up by a roadside bomb.

Meanwhile the Times reports that air passengers face body scans and more frequent searches under security guidelines unveiled yesterday in response to the Christmas Day bomb plot.

The Telegraph says that the Home Secretary has announced that controversial passenger profiling techniques could be used in response to the attempted Detroit plane bombing,

To politics and the Independent reports that Lord Mandelson will admit today that Britain became too dependent on the City of London for its growth and tax revenue while Gordon Brown was Chancellor.

According to the Gaurdian

Privately he has become increasingly frustrated with Brown's leadership and the prime minister's reluctance to admit that spending must be constrained to halve the budget by 2010. Mandelson told friends over the last month that Labour was in danger of resorting to a core vote strategy.

The Times says that David Cameron has been forced to backtrack after sending out a message on Monday that the plan might have to be downgraded because of financial pressures.

Many of the papers report that A mother gave her brain-damaged son a fatal overdose of heroin after admitting she had tried to kill him before as an ‘act of mercy’,

The Guardian reports that a major report warns today that thousands of elderly people are being forced to have tubes fitted so they can be artificially fed if they want to be admitted to a care home,