MOST of Kent looked like a winter wonderland today but it was far from wonderful for commuters who couldn't get to work because of the overnight snow.

Worst hit were train passengers left stranded in the freezing cold on platforms in north Kent with no means of getting to London. Connex South Eastern cancelled train services to and from London, despite its online train service reporting no delays on any of its services.

Broken-down trains between Meopham and Sole Street, and another between Gravesend and Strood, meant that for over three hours there were no trains running between Medway and London Victoria.

Signal failure at Dartford added to the problems and hundreds of people could not get to their jobs in the capital. Among the furious commuters left standing on cold platforms was former Medway Mayor Dai Liyanage.

Mr Liyanage arrived at Rainham station at 6.45 am and was informed by passenger information boards that the 5.55 am train was expected to arrive at 7am. Having waited for two hours, passengers were informed a faulty train at Faversham had disrupted all train services.

Speaking from his Gillingham home a disgruntled Mr Liyanage said: "I can't understand this country. We all knew there was going to be snowfall this morning. How do people in other European countries manage? A colleague has just returned from Finland where there were inches of snow, but life there just goes on."

At Rochester train station nearly 70 people were left stranded by the delays, with no indication of when services would be running again. Jayne McLaughlan, 29, waited for nearly two hours for her train to London Victoria before giving up and returning home.

She said: "I think it's disgraceful that half an inch of snow can bring the whole service to a halt. It's ridiculous.

"People were just left milling about on the platform with little information, debating whether to wait around or not."

A Connex notice at Rochester station said: "Due to adverse weather conditions, passengers should expect delays of up to two hours and cancellations at short notice."

Icy train tracks were blamed for the disrupted train services. Connex spokesman Sarah Boundy said they were trying to rectify the situation as quickly as possible. ÒDuring the icy weather conditions, the rails get icy. The trains act as insulators and the trains get stuck. We are running bus services to help minimise disruption.

Road users also faced disruption with bus services running late. Arriva commercial director Kevin Hawkins assured passengers all bus services were running.

Forecasters predicted that the cold snap would continue with average temperatures across the country between 0-3C (32-36F).

A spokeswoman for PA WeatherCentre said there would continue to be snow showers across the south of England.