LONDON (AP) — Britain's military is being deployed to central and western England to help get hospital workers to their jobs and to rescue people from snowbound vehicles as unusually cold weather gripped the country.

The army is sending 20 troops and 10 four-wheel drive vehicles to Shropshire, and the Royal Marines sent resources to Devon and Cornwall after police asked for help.

One train traveling from London's Waterloo Station to Weymouth ground to a halt outside New Milton, stranding motorists for hours. Thousands of homes are without electricity as temperatures remain below freezing, with bitter winds.

Heathrow Airport tweeted Friday that it was working with airlines to consolidate the flight schedule "to provide more certainty around departing flights," as extreme wintry conditions were expected across the U.K. and Europe.