Heavy snow, rain, thunderstorms and wind have caused disruption across much of Britain as a band of “severe” weather rolled across the country.
Parts of northern England and Scotland discovered thick blankets of snow on Friday morning, with the south coast lashed by torrential downpours, lightning and strong winds.
Forecasters warned of disruption to travel and potential power outages throughout Friday as the band of “severe” weather moves in from the east.
(PA Graphics)
An amber warning of snow in West Yorkshire, the South Pennines and places such as Rochdale and Burnley is in place until 11am and a wider yellow warning for snow has been issued for southern and eastern Scotland, northern England and the Midlands until 3pm.
The heaviest snowfall of 5cm-10cm is expected in parts of northern England and up to 15cm over higher ground.
Across the south-west coast meteorologist Emma Sharples said a “squally feature” moving eastwards was “quite active and giving some high rain rates”, with thunder and lightning and gusts of up to 50mph recorded.
A yellow warning has been issued by the Met Office for strong winds expected over parts of south-west England and southern Wales across to Greater London, bringing “potent, heavy showers with a chance of hail and thunder” as the system moves eastwards.
Devon and Cornwall Police said the A39 near Bideford in Devon was partially blocked due to a fallen tree and there was flooding on the A3075 near Newquay in Cornwall.
Elsewhere snow caused disruption across many roads, with Cumbria Police warning on Twitter that all routes in the south of the county were affected, as well as the M6.
Highways England issued a severe weather warning and urged people to plan their journeys, monitor weather reports and pack a snow kit of blankets, food, water and a shovel if they really need to travel.
Pete Williams told the Press Association that the RAC was “very, very busy across the UK” on Friday morning.
He said the snow around Doncaster, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, and across central and southern Scotland was causing problems, as well as the wind and heavy rain in the south west.
Mr Williams advised drivers within the amber snow warning to “really consider whether their journey is entirely necessary”.
The AA said they had received more than 1,687 breakdown calls before 10am on Friday, with 10 cases of vehicles being stuck in snow.
The AA said that the worst areas on the roads were around Manchester and Cumbria, and that the A6 in Cumbria, the Snake Pass and several roads around Macclesfield were closed.
Flights were also suspended at one of Scotland’s busiest airports as blizzard conditions gripped western parts of the country.
Up to 5cm of snow fell overnight causing Glasgow Airport to temporarily ground flights.
Forecasters predict those conditions will head eastwards before turning into sleet and rain.