Tue. Jan 7th, 2025
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Watch: Icy start to week after UK sees weekend of snow

Snow and freezing rain has swept across parts of the UK, bringing cancellations and delays to rail and air travel as well as disruption on the roads.

An amber weather warning across northern England has been extended until Monday morning. Less severe yellow weather warnings are also in force for large parts of Scotland, Wales and elsewhere in England.

Several airports were forced to shut their runways, with Manchester and Liverpool able to reopen only on Sunday morning and delays continuing throughout the day.

Parts of southern England have also now been warned of flooding due to rain and melting snow because of milder temperatures.

BBC Weather Watchers/Bettys Hot Spot A car driving through a flooded roadBBC Weather Watchers/Bettys Hot Spot

Heavy rainfall is causing rising water levels in southern England

A number of flood warnings are in place across the south of England, meaning flooding is “expected” in these areas, while there are also more than 200 flood alerts, which deem flooding “possible”, in several areas of England and Wales.

The Environment Agency said it is monitoring swollen rivers around the UK as some are near to bursting their banks.

The Met Office weather warnings in place are:

  • An amber warning for snow across northern England has been extended until 06:00 GMT Monday
  • Less severe yellow warnings for snow and ice cover most of Scotland, Wales, northern England and the Midlands, up to midday on Monday in some cases
  • Yellow warnings for rain are also in place across south Wales and southern England until Monday morning

Fresh yellow warnings for ice will come into effect from midnight, including for most of Northern Ireland.

Amber warnings are more serious than yellow warnings and indicate a possible risk to life, as well as more significant travel disruption.

Temperatures are forecast to dip again from Monday to below average, with “widespread frost and the threat of ice” remaining, the Met Office said.

The agency had said some rural communities could be cut off by snow, with up to 40cm (16in) on ground above 300m, before conditions ease later on Sunday.

The lowest temperature recorded over Saturday night was in Loch Glascarnoch, Scotland (-11C), while heavy snow affected much of England and northern Wales.

Bingley in West Yorkshire had recorded 16cm of snow as of 09:00 on Sunday. In the late afternoon, heavy snow was still falling in Cumbria – with around 10cm lying in Shap – in the far north of England, and across southern Scotland.

There was also around 5cm of snow in many cities including Leeds and York, according to BBC Weather.

BBC/Yunus Mulla A gritting lorry clears a road in Harrogate with cars parked next to mounted snow on the pavements and hills.BBC/Yunus Mulla

Gritters have been out across the country – including in Harrogate in Yorkshire

Manchester Airport warned “some departures and arrivals may still be subject to delays” after it was forced to close its runways, and urged passengers to check with their airline for updates on their flight.

More than 30 flights in and out of the airport have been cancelled and over 300 were delayed as of 20:35 GMT, according to tracking website FlightAware.

More than a dozen Manchester-bound planes had to land at London Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, Dublin, Glasgow and Paris.

As a result of heavy snowfall overnight, Liverpool, Bristol, Birmingham, Newcastle and Leeds airports also temporarily closed their runways. All have since reopened.

Overnight, snow closed the A628 Woodhead Pass, which connects Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire through the Peak District, in both directions between the A616 at Flouch and the A57 at Hollingworth.

The A66 in County Durham and Cumbria is also closed between the M6 and A1M.

Stuart Irons, from National Highways, told BBC Breakfast on Sunday that 500 gritting lorries planned to be out across the UK and they had stockpiled more than 240,000 tonnes of salt.

In Merseyside, two safety meetings were held on Sunday morning to assess whether the snow and travel conditions would affect the Premier League clash between Liverpool and Manchester United, but the match was given the go-ahead.

PA Media A snowman is seen outside Anfield stadium in Liverpool ahead of the Premier League clash against Manchester United.PA Media

A football match at Anfield stadium in Liverpool will go ahead

National Rail said poor weather was affecting LNER, TransPennine Express and Northern services.

Meanwhile, melting snow caused disruption to rail networks in southern England, with delays expected until 21:00 GMT between London St Pancras International and St Albans.

Great Western Railway said heavy rain flooded the line between Frome and Taunton, with trains running at reduced speeds.

Overnight into Monday, more snow is expected in north England as far south as the Peak District, in north Wales, and southern and eastern Scotland.

The heaviest snow was expected in higher parts of Wales, the Midlands and northern England, with up to 40cm possible over the mountains of north Wales, the Peak District and the Pennines.

Localised snow and ice warnings cover parts of Scotland, where it will remain cold.

UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) amber cold weather health alerts for all of England remain in place.

Additional reporting by Cachella Smith, Elizabeth Rizzini and Sofia Ferreira Santos

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