Derby v Cardiff plus rugby league clash postponed due to snow
Ireland's Grand Slam homecoming fell foul of the wintry weather as a second wave of snow inside a month decimated Sunday's sporting schedule.
Joe Schmidt's side were due to touch down in Dublin and drink in the adoration of their fans after beating England at Twickenham on Saturday.
But the second round of 'the Beast from the East' meant the celebrations had to be abandoned.
"The Ireland team homecoming planned for this afternoon has been cancelled due to heavy snowfall," a statement from Irish Rugby read.
"Irish Rugby would thank all supporters for their continued support throughout this campaign."
The Anglo-Welsh Cup final between Bath and Exeter was cancelled.
Football
In the Sky Bet championship, Derby's clash with Cardiff fell due to the snowfall over Pride Park.
The FA Cup clashes between Wigan and Southampton and Chelsea and Leicester managed to survive the elements.
Rugby league
Castleford held a 10am pitch inspection for their Super League game with Wigan only for the game to fall foul. A short drive away, York's game with Swinton - being played at Featherstone - was set to go ahead.
Castleford's safety officer Ian Crawford said: "Postponing a game is never an option we take lightly and I must give praise to our groundsman Stuart Vause who really has worked so hard over the past week.
"The sheer volume of rainfall we had before the snow and sub-zero temperatures overnight have left us with a frozen pitch and frozen terraces."
Challenge Cup matches at Coventry, Halifax, Hunslet and North Wales were also off.
Racing
Sunday's UK fixture list was wiped out as both Carlisle and Ffos Las were forced to abandon.
Carlisle's meeting had been in some doubt with an 8am inspection called due to forecast snow but as soon as officials arrived at the Cumbrian venue shortly after 6am, they were able to take an early decision.
A tweet from the track, accompanied by a picture of a very wintry scene, read: "Sadly we have had to abandon today's race meeting due to the snow! Tickets will be refunded automatically. Please call the office if you have any questions."
The situation was no better at Ffos Las.
A tweet from the Ffos Las' official account said: "The Clerk of the course has done an early inspection & due to adverse weather conditions racing has been abandoned. All race goers will be contacted today."
Officials at Navan and Limerick have also abandoned to leave Ireland also without racing on Sunday.
Limerick is also due to race on Monday and will stage an 0800 GMT inspection on raceday morning.
Southwell abandoned as the track is covered by four inches of snow. Kelso is also snowbound and called off its fixture following an unsuccessful inspection at 1400 GMT on Sunday.
A statement issued by Kelso read: "Further snow showers today and temperatures remaining around zero degrees - and forecast of further snow this evening - leaves insufficient hope for required improvement."
Any chance of domestic jumps racing on Tuesday is solely dependant upon an improvement in conditions at Wetherby.
The going at the Yorkshire circuit is heavy, waterlogged in places, after 57 millimetres of rain between March 5-13.
Exeter's meeting on Tuesday was abandoned just after 1100 GMT on Sunday. After having sustained 88mm of rainfall within the last seven days, the track is now covered by two inches in snow.
Monday's only surviving domestic fixture is at Lingfield. There are "currently no problems" ahead of the seven-race Flat card on the all-weather track.
Newcastle is also set to stage a Flat fixture on Tuesday. There was a dusting of snow on the track on Sunday morning but clerk of the course James Armstrong expects the weather to turn milder from Monday.
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