Snow has been blanketing parts of the UK and yet more if forecast from this afternoon, with snow, ice and freezing fog warnings for vast areas of the country.
Last night was the coldest of the winter so far, with the mercury dropping to -11C in Aberdeenshire and -13.6C at Lock Glascarnoch.
#Cold this morning? Last night was the UK’s and also all four of the home nations’ coldest night of the winter so far; -13.6 °C at Loch Glascarnoch was the lowest temperature recorded 🧤🧥🧣 pic.twitter.com/HchpBfl1Nx
— Met Office (@metoffice) January 31, 2019
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Snow is now expected to fall for 24 hours from Thursday afternoon, with England and Wales baring the bunt, with up to 10cm of snow in some places. The cold temperatures are expected to stick around until at least the weekend.
Met Office forecaster Mark Wilson said: “It’s been a very, very cold night. On Thursday night we could see similar temperatures in Scotland, but Northern Ireland, England and Wales probably won’t be quite as cold.
“Saturday night into Sunday could also be very cold.”
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Travel chaos is expected as the storm sweeps in from the west threatening to strand drivers and cut off villages. The RAC reported 8,000 breakdowns on Wednesday, with drivers across the UK warned to watch out for black ice.
Essex Police tweeted: “Cold start to the day with a number of our officers out on patrol reporting freezing fog and adverse road conditions.”
Southeastern trains said services had been cancelled or altered to minimise the impact of ice on the rails.
⚠️ 8,000 breakdowns in one day
❄️ Check out this great advice from a breakdown patrol driver on how to make sure you DON’T become another rescue case! #snow #uksnow @TheRAC_UK #ThursdayThoughts pic.twitter.com/SFVZixqPaH— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) January 31, 2019
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Manchester and Liverpool airports were also bought to a standstill on Wednesday, with many schools also forced to shut their doors because of dangerous conditions.
The Army is also on standby in case of a snow emergency and councils across the UK have 1.4 million tonnes of salt stockpiled the Local Government Association said.
Issuing a yellow weather warning The Met Office said: “Areas of rain and snow are expected to move into the UK from the southwest from Thursday and through Friday.
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“Any single period of rain and snow is not expected to last more than six to nine hours, but some snow accumulations are likely with 1-3cm likely in places within the warning area and the potential for 5-10cm, perhaps particularly over Wales and southwest England.
“Snow amounts will vary markedly across England and Wales with many places seeing very little accumulating snow.”
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