Many of us will have woken up to blankets of snow across the UK this morning as the weekend has seen extremely cold temperatures.
Although some will be hoping to get out for a wintery walk or to make a snowman with the family, the weather has been causing a lot of disruption.
Over the last few days, weather warnings have been put in place for snow and ice, as the UK continues to experience cold air from the north, “bringing freezing temperatures, widespread frosts, patchy freezing fog and snow at times.”
The Met Office has issued the latest yellow weather warning of ice from 12am until 8am on Sunday (December 3) for London, the East of England, the West Midlands and parts of South Wales.
What different Met Office weather warnings mean
On Saturday (December 2), Cumbria Police declared a “major incident” and urged people not to travel to the county on Sunday because of heavy snowfall on the county’s roads.
Elsewhere, flights were briefly halted at Glasgow Airport yesterday after heavy snow on the runway.
Flights were also cancelled and delayed at Stansted Airport because of cold weather conditions.
But if you are not of fan of the snow due to the travel issues and inconvenience it can cause, or you’re wishing for temperatures above freezing, you might be wondering when the wintery spell will end (for now).
⚠️ Yellow snow & ice warnings are in force for today ⚠️
— Met Office (@metoffice) December 3, 2023
Latest info 👉 https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs
Stay #WeatherAware⚠️ pic.twitter.com/uC0ql2aqEA
How long is the snow going to last?
In the latest forecast issued by the Met Office, chief meteorologist, Jason Kelly said: “Many areas of England and Wales areas can then expect spells of rain for the start of next week, which could be heavy at times with a risk of flooding.
“Some higher hills across parts of north Wales and northern England could see further snow.”
There are currently nine flood alerts in place across England, mainly in the South – see if you are affected here.
The Environment Agency said: “Local flooding is possible from rivers and surface water in parts of the south of England from later Sunday (December 3) and during Monday (December 4).
How to drive safely in snow and ice
“Land, roads and some properties may flood and there may be travel disruption.”
Meanwhile, BBC Weather forecaster Stav Danaos added: "We will start with a wintry mix in eastern England and south-east Scotland first thing on Sunday, which will be replaced with outbreaks of cloud and slightly less cold weather - although it's still going to be chilly.”
He went on to say that "wetter and windier weather" is expected to “sweep” across the UK by Monday.
Earlier in the week, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Met Office issued amber cold health alerts in five regions including the East Midlands, West Midlands, North West, North East and Yorkshire and the Humber which remain in place until Tuesday, December 5.
This means “cold weather impacts are likely to be felt across the whole health service for an extended period of time.”
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