UK weather: Amber warning in place as further snow forecast

The Met Office has issued an amber warning for snow, with forecasters warning that travel delays are “likely” – stranding vehicles and passengers.

The warning – covering parts of South East England – came into effect at 4.20am on Friday morning, and will stay in force until 11am.

Further snowfall is expected in the coming hours, with the Met Office saying “there is a good chance that some rural communities could become cut off”.

The warning adds: “Some delays and cancellations to rail are likely, and perhaps air travel. Power cuts are likely and other services, such as mobile phone coverage, may be affected.”

Sky News weather forecaster Nazaneen Ghaffar said: “This morning, yellow snow and ice warnings are in force from the Met Office for northern and eastern parts of Britain, and central and southern parts of England and Wales.

“Across these areas there is likely to be about 1cm to 3cm of snow accumulating widely and perhaps up to 10cm for some spots, especially over Wales and South West England.

“Ice will be an additional hazard to the snow as well, so some travel disruption is likely this morning. However, most of the snow over central and southern areas of England and Wales this morning will be across inland areas, coasts are more likely to experience spells of rain and sleet.

“Met Eireann also have a yellow snow and ice warning for the whole of the Republic of Ireland today, although it’ll be mainly dry there.

“There has also been an a higher amber warning issued this morning for parts of Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Reading, Slough, Reading, Surrey, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, and Wokingham.

“This has been issued as following the overnight snowfall across these parts, this morning there is likely to be a further 5cm falling and accumulating across these areas which will probably lead to problems on the roads.

“Through today the rain, sleet and snow across central areas of England and Wales will tend to ease away, but eastern England may still see some patchy light spells of rain, sleet and snow into this evening.

“Saturday will be a mostly dry and sunny day for many, apart from wintry showers across coastal areas. Sunday will see a band of rain and hill snow spread eastwards across the UK and Ireland.”

Heavy snowfall across the UK led to “hazardous driving conditions” – with hundreds of motorists stranded in their cars last night as temperatures fell.

Some of the worst disruption on Thursday night was seen in Cornwall, where police began an “intensive effort” to help those stuck in about 100 cars on the A30.

The Met Office had forecast a maximum of 10cm (3.9in) of snow for Thursday – but at least 12cm (4.7in) was recorded on Bodmin Moor in the county.

One hotel in Bodmin, the Jamaica Inn, opened their doors to stranded motorists – and offered makeshift beds for those who needed to abandon their cars and take refuge.

On Twitter, the hotel said it had taken in more than 100 adults, four children under the age of two and an eight-month-old with a heart condition.

In other developments:

:: South Western Railway has told passengers that trains may be cancelled on Friday morning while work is done to check and clear the tracks

:: British Airways is warning passengers to expect flight cancellations on Friday because of the wintry weather

:: Bristol Airport says it has been “working through the night” to clear its runway – and flights are currently suspended until 8am at the earliest

:: About 90 schools are closed on Friday across Cornwall

:: Temperatures of -15.4C (4.3F) have been recorded in Braemar in Aberdeenshire, making it the coldest night of winter so far. Had it fallen 0.2C (0.4C) lower, it would have surpassed the low of -15.6C (3.92F) set in 2010

As the final day of the working week begins for most Britons, Highways England says winter maintenance crews are “working hard through the night across the road network” – continually treating and clearing surfaces.

(c) Sky News 2019: UK weather: Amber warning in place as further snow forecast