No jumps in UK until Friday

Thursday's meeting at Ludlow is the latest fixture to fall victim to the current cold snap.

Officials had stated early on Tuesday morning they were not optimistic about the chances of racing and by 9.45am, they had decided to call off the card.

The track is frozen with overnight temperatures forecast to fall well below freezing and snow is also expected.

This afternoon's meeting at Catterick has been abandoned due to snow, but racing goes ahead as planned at Chelmsford.

Catterick clerk of the course Fiona Needham admitted it was "an easy decision" to call off the Tuesday card, with the planned 8am inspection brought forward as the situation was clear.

She said: "We've had about five centimetres of snow and there is more forecast so it is not going to go away.

"With the temperature as it is and more snow expected, it was an easy decision."

Musselburgh's Harriet Graham also wasted little time in making a decision on Wednesday's card, calling the meeting off before the planned inspection time of 8.30am with the track frozen.

She tweeted: "Racing abandoned. Freezing temperatures with no prospects to rise above freezing tomorrow."

The latest cancellations mean there will be no jumping action in Britain until Friday at the earliest as the cold spell, dubbed the "Beast From The East", continues to bite.

Doncaster, Kelso and Newbury are all due to race that day, with Kelso reportedly pessimistic about the chances of their meeting going ahead.

Both Doncaster and Newbury have had the covers down since Friday but continue to monitor the conditions.

While the immediate racing action is affected by the cold snap, Cheltenham clerk of the course Simon Claisse is feeling upbeat with the Festival due to kick off in two weeks' time.

He is expecting cold conditions at Prestbury Park in the coming days, but reports the long-range forecast to be favourable at this stage.

He told Racing UK: "Undoubtedly this cold spell of weather that's coming from the east is heading our way.

"Temperatures have been down to minus 5C so far on the track this week, we expect those to go down to minus 7C or minus 8C. We've not covered the course because there's some significant snowfall forecast on Thursday and Friday.

"Beyond that, it's looking as though the weather will turn considerably less cold, with rain coming in possibly Sunday or Monday next week with temperatures slowly going upwards.

"It's a long way off at the moment, but there are some strong signals that come a fortnight at the beginning of the Festival, we will be into a mild airflow."