Ridley Scott is planning an adaptation of The Day Britain Stopped, Digital Spy said, citing The Hollywood Reporter.

The director will produce a disaster movie for 20th Century Fox based on the 2003 BBC fictional documentary drama alongside Steve Zaillian.

The original docudrama was based around a catastrophic event which sees all of Britain's transport systems grind to a halt on a freezing December day.

Services are crippled across the country as major and minor accidents prevent essential workers including doctors, nurses, air traffic controllers and firemen from travelling to where they are needed.

As the police attempt to implement a last-ditch contingency plan, two planes collide in the skies over West London.

The film is inspired by the original rather than a direct adaptation.

Scott and Zaillian are shopping for a writer to produce a script that sets the disaster against a global background.

The Prometheus director will next helm The Counselor with Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Penelope Cruz and Dean Norris.