Cold blast wreaks havoc with Premier League

Heavy snow and freezing temperatures decimated the English Premier League fixture list Saturday, leaving only two matches left as blizzards blanketed Britain.

Wigan’s home match against Aston Villa and Liverpool’s late game against Fulham were both axed due to heavy overnight snow before Birmingham’s tie with Newcastle at St Andrews was called off, club officials confirmed.

Shortly afterwards, Arsenal’s game with Stoke at the Emirates became the fourth casualty of the weather as a blizzard swept across London.

The forecast of more snow over the weekend also claimed Chelsea’s heavyweight showdown with Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Although Liverpool’s pitch is protected by undersoil heating, a club spokesman said the game was called off after police warned of treacherous conditions around the ground with sub-zero temperatures forecast for later.

“Club officials met with the police this morning to assess the prevailing weather conditions,” said a Liverpool spokesman.

“The safety of all fans attending the game is paramount and although the Anfield pitch is playable, the conditions around the stadium and further afield for people travelling to the match are such that the decision was taken, following police advice on safety grounds, to postpone the game.”

Wigan earlier issued a statement confirming their game had been postponed, citing “freak snow” as the reason.

Birmingham-Newcastle was called off at the request of referee Mike Jones and the local authorities, citing safety reasons.

“Blues groundstaff had been working around the clock to ensure the pitch was playable and supporter sections of the stadium were being attended to by the club’s maintenance team,” read a club statement.

“But unfortunately all that good work has been undone by incessant snowfall and referee Mike Jones and the local authorities have asked for the game to be called off.”

The postponements left only two games to be played in the Premier League on Saturday, with Sunderland facing Bolton at the Stadium of Light in the early kick-off and Blackburn due to face West Ham at Ewood Park.

Outside the Premiership, a slew of matches in the Championship and lower leagues were called off.

In Scotland, Hamilton’s home game with Celtic became the fourth Scottish Premier League match to fall victim to the weather after the Rangers-St Mirren, Aberdeen-Motherwell and St Johnstone-Dundee United games were postponed on Friday.

Beyond football, the weather also ravaged horse racing, with meetings at Lingfield, Ascot, Newcastle and Haydock biting the dust.