Experience has taught me never ever ever to travel by air in the run up to Christmas and it's something I've always stuck to and never once regretted as every single year something goes wrong which means people are stranded for Christmas. May not always be the air, but the trains or roads too. You can be certain that at least one of these major networks will fail on the week running up to 25/12!
Anyway, that aside, I'm sure some passengers were advised to go home (not that the news would report on that, too much to be gained by showing people who "were given no information at all") but, like sheep, many of them choose to just sit still "just in case" something changes and they want to be the first to know/act. In cases like this I'd have gone home straight away. No point in hanging around, many people probably did go home, but too many people simply ignore what they are told to do and stay put expecting something and getting angry when that thing doesn't happen.
It's like when a major airport has mass cancellations for days on end and people are told under no uncertain terms, DO NOT TRAVEL TO THE AIRPORT, yet, without fail, you still see people streaming in to the terminal to join the long line of people who are all being told they are going nowhere. Ash Cloud and Freezing Fog at LHR a few years ago being perfect examples.