Racing:The current sub-zero temperatures are continuing to play havoc with National Hunt race meetings in Britain hit particularly hard, while today's meeting at Naas was already abandoned due to the conditions.
Today’s Plumpton meeting, featuring the At The Races Sussex National, looks likely to survive by the skin of its teeth after surviving a second inspection.
An initial look at 7.30am was inconclusive but as frost covers had been deployed over the entire track clerk of the course Mark Cornford felt confident enough to give the meeting the go ahead at 9am.
"It's good news," said Cornford. "We've given it the green light as temperatures are slowly rising but we are going to leave the covers down until 10am.
"The temperature has risen to plus one already and hopefully it will continue to rise as the sun is out."
However the news is not so positive elsewhere. Lingfield and Wetherby, the two National Hunt fixtures scheduled for Monday, have both been abandoned already.
Following a 7.30am inspection Lingfield's clerk Neil MacKenzie Ross said: "We've abandoned. We've had a couple of really hard frosts in a row now.
"The temperature is only supposed to get to plus two today and it reached plus four yesterday and the frost still didn't come out of the ground.
"We are forecast minus four tonight and only plus one tomorrow so the decision was pretty easy really."
Wetherby's bad luck continued hot on the heels of losing their two-day Christmas fixture.
Clerk of the course Jonjo Sanderson said: "We've lost another meeting I'm afraid.
"It was minus four last night and is predicted to get to plus one at best today.
"It is due to be even colder tonight, maybe minus six or seven and the frost is now embedded in the ground.
"Nothing changed yesterday so I don't expect it to today. Let's hope it gets warmer before our next fixture on January 16."
Leicester's meeting on Tuesday will need to pass an 8am inspection tomorrow but that looks unlikely.
Clerk of the course Jimmy Stevenson said: "It got down to minus five again last night and it's not getting very high today.
"It is supposed to get anywhere between minus three and minus six again tonight and we need a big change in the forecast if we are to have any chance I think."
Prospects of any turf racing on Wednesday look bleak as inspections at Hexham and Southwell have already been planned for 7.30am and 12pm respectively tomorrow and Ludlow's meeting on Thursday is subject to a check at 2pm on Tuesday.