Prospects of jumps racing in Ireland and Britain this week look bleak as the Arctic conditions continue to bite.
National Hunt fixtures have already been wiped out on Monday and Tuesday and, with no end in sight to the cold spell, more blank days are likely.
Wednesday's meeting at Navan has been cancelled due to snow and a further unfavourable weather forecast.
This afternoon's meeting at Folkestone finally had to give in to snow after twice being given the go-ahead.
Runners were at the start for the first race at 12.25pm, but had to return as conditions deteriorated.
Clerk of the course Andrew Waitt said: ‘I'm absolutely gutted as the team worked incredibly hard to try to get racing on but the decision was taken out of our hands.
‘Ice was balling under the horses' hooves at the start and when they cantered back to the stands it was coming out.
‘The stewards decided in the interests of safety to abandon.
‘There were no problems at all at 9am, there was a light covering of dusty snow which was easily dispersed.
‘The forecast was for the possibility of light snow showers during the day, these were heavy and beyond what we could take.’
Wednesday's meeting at Ayr and Catterick have gone by the wayside.
Five inches of snow is reported to be lying on the track at Catterick.
Clerk of the course Fiona Needham said: ‘We had another inch of snow overnight and it's forecast to continue.’
Ayr clerk of the course Emma Marley said: ‘Daytime temperatures are too low to inspire any thaw and overnight temperatures are set to go down to minus 4C.
‘Prospects were not good.’
An 8am inspection on Tuesday has been called ahead of Wednesday's other jumps meeting at Plumpton.
The track is another venue firmly in the grip of the current cold snap and officials are expecting another chilly night.
‘We had another frost last night of minus 5C, so the last three nights have been minus 4C, minus 6C and minus 5C. It has got into the ground so the course is frozen in places,’ said clerk of the course Mark Cornford.
‘It's not looking good but we will look at the situation in the morning.’
The situation is no better on Thursday, with the three scheduled jumps meetings holding inspections.
Leicester and Market Rasen are having a look at 10am on Tuesday, while Wincanton aim to hold out until 24 hours later.
‘We've got two inches of snow on the track and it is frozen in places underneath,’ said Leicester clerk of the course Jimmy Stevenson.
‘The forecast is not brilliant. We've got the chance of more snow tonight and then the temperatures for the whole of the week don't look like they are going to go above freezing.’
Market Rasen clerk Sulekha Varma said: ‘There's about an inch to an inch and a half of snow on the track and we are frozen in places.’
Wincanton officials want to give their card every opportunity of going ahead and will assess conditions at 10am on Wednesday.
‘We've got 20% of the track that is frozen and we have a light covering of snow,’ said clerk of the course Barry Johnson.
‘There's a school of thought we should probably inspect tomorrow and knock it on the head if it's not raceable, but if we've got any glimmer of hope we will hold on.
‘That's why we are going for Wednesday at 10am and it will be make or break. Things have got to improve by then.’
Officials at Sandown admit their two-day meeting, featuring the Tingle Creek Chase on Saturday, could be in the balance unless conditions improve dramatically.
‘It's not looking great at this stage,’ clerk of the course Andrew Cooper told At The Races.
‘We look like we are going to have below-freezing nights all week and Thursday night is looking particularly cold and daytime temperatures getting no higher than 1C or something like that.
‘We have got frost in the ground at the moment so that has got to shift before we can really exude any optimism at all.’
