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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Susie Beever

Snow and ice for 3 days as Met Office issues new warnings and thousands without power

Brits can expect to shiver for another few days as weather warnings for the current Arctic blast are extended until the end of the week.

The Met Office has issued warnings for snow and ice in the South West and in Scotland and the North East, which have now been extended into Friday.

It also covers most of the east coast as far down as Norfolk, as well as parts of Northern Ireland.

The warning is in place until midnight on Thursday, although a separate snow and ice warning has been issued for most of Scotland on Friday.

Snowfall hit several parts of the UK again overnight on Tuesday, with residents in Cornwall and Tyneside among those waking up to a fresh layer.

Wednesday's weather warnings (Met Office)
Thursday's weather warnings (Met Office)

Several flights at Luton and Gatwick airports were cancelled again on Wednesday morning following two days of disruption at the hands of the weather.

A warning for wind is also in place for the Shetland Islands until 2pm on Wednesday, bringing gusts of up to 65mph.

It comes as hundreds of residents on the archipelago continue to battle a major power outage which has been declared a major incident.

Arctic conditions in the Shetlands damaged power lines on Monday, leaving around 2,800 homes still without heating or electric as of Wednesday.

Friday: Most of Scotland is under another weather warning for more snow and ice, which has been extended until the end of the week (Met Office)
The power cuts in Shetland have been declared a major incident (HM COASTGUARD)

The power outage means residents cannot heat their homes due to having no access to mainland gas supplies.

While engineers were able to restore power to around 1,000 homes on Tuesday, many are still in a blackout despite temperatures falling as low as -17.3C in the region.

Police on the archipelago's mainland confirmed that a woman's body had been found in an outbuilding on Tuesday afternoon amidst the below-freezing conditions.

Police Scotland said they were now investigating the death, which was not believed to be suspicious.

The power cuts in Shetland have been declared a major incident (SSEN DISTRIBUTION)

Engineers arrived on the islands early on Wednesday morning to assess the situation and will be working through tough Arctic conditions to try and restore power.

Coastguards have also been supplying diesel to doctor's surgeries to ensure they could remain open and to power fridges storing necessary drugs.

Resident Tom Morton said it was "looking like Thursday night" before power could be restored.

"I don't think Shetland's electricity network has ever suffered such damage," he tweeted, adding that rescue crews were continuing out onto the island's snow-buried roads to "help stranded drivers".

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