How Man United and Liverpool came to postponement decision after early morning talks at Anfield

The snow threatened to postpone the Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester United at Anfield this afternoon (4.30pm).

The country experienced heavy snowfall the night before and there were fears over whether the Northwest Derby would go ahead. The Met Office placed Liverpool and Manchester under an amber weather warning while Transport for Greater Manchester issued a warning against all 'unnecessary travel' for Sunday.

A statement read: "Snow and ice is likely to cause travel disruption do not travel unless absolutely necessary If you do need to travel please allow plenty of time and plan ahead. Cold and icy conditions are set to continue across the region over the coming days, with potential disruption to transport and infrastructure. Snow is also forecast to fall throughout Saturday evening across Greater Manchester and the North West."

The concerns led to major delays at Manchester Airport where flights were cancelled and the runway was closed for some time early Sunday morning. In a statement issued at 7.20am, Manchester Airport said: "Our runways remain closed as we continue to clear the airfield after continued heavy slow in the last hour. We prioritise the health and safety of our passengers and operations will resume as soon as possible."

Liverpool City Council's Safety Advisory Group then held an initial meeting at 9am and a decision over whether the game would go ahead, was later deferred to 12pm. The disruption continued with two League Two matches postponed: Chesterfield vs Gillingham and Fleetwood Town vs AFC Wimbledon.

Elsewhere, Chepstow racecourse followed a pitch inspection with the green light for races to go ahead, while the racing at Plumpton Racecourse in Lewes was cancelled due to