Big freeze hits sport schedule

The cold snap that has hit Britain continued to play havoc with the schedule for this weekend’s sports fixtures across the country, with several more postponements announced Thursday.

A day after all six Scottish Premier League matches due to take place Saturday were called off, only the second division fixture between Alloa and Peterhead remained on after officials pulled the plug on the rest of the football programme in a snow-covered Scotland.

In England, 10 Football League fixtures have fallen victim to the weather although all matches in the elite Premier League this weekend were still set to go ahead as planned.

However, with numerous pitch inspections planned for Saturday, English football could suffer further disruption.

Meanwhile both of the Friday fixtures in English rugby union’s top-flight Premiership have been postponed, with Sale’s match at home to Gloucester called off because of concerns over spectator safety a day after Newcastle’s match with Bath fell victim to a frozen pitch.

The Celtic League match between Glasgow and Treviso has also been postponed while several weekend horse race meetings in Britain and Ireland have been called off because of snow.