The Met Office has issued another severe weather warning covering the whole of Greater Manchester. The alert - which is due to come into force from 5pm tonight, Thursday - warns of widespread icy conditions and 'some challenging travelling conditions' across the region.
The warning covers a period overnight up to 10am on Friday morning. The latest alert means two snow and ice warnings will be in place for Greater Manchester.
Drivers and passengers are being warned to expect delays this morning and into the afternoon as wintry weather has led to severe disruption, with some motorways facing severe congestion. Temperatures across the city region are only just beginning to climb above freezing, before hitting a maximum of 4C later today.
In its latest alert, the Met Office warned of the potential for 'some injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces', together with 'icy patches on some untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths'.
"Potential for ice developing and some challenging travelling conditions on Thursday night and Friday morning," forecasters warned. "Wintry showers will gradually die out through Thursday night and with skies clearing, surfaces are expected to fall below freezing leading to ice developing on untreated surfaces."
Nationally, temperatures plunged below minus 10C in some parts of the UK overnight amid warnings of snow, ice and travel disruption.
Drumnadrochit, near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands, hit minus 10.4C in the early hours of Thursday, making it the coldest recorded temperature of the year so far.
As Topcliffe in north Yorkshire got down to minus 7.4C, the coldest in England, Manchester Airport was forced to temporarily close both its runways due to heavy snowfall.
A statement on Twitter said: "Following a period of heavy snowfall, we have temporarily closed both runways. Health and safety will always be our top priority and operations will resume at the earliest opportunity.
"Passengers are advised to contact their airline for the most up-to-date flight information."
A series of yellow weather warnings for snow and ice from the Met Office came in as a major incident was declared in Somerset due to the risk of flooding.
The warnings covering northern and south-west Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales suggest there may be “further wintry showers bringing disruption from ice and snow” while an ice warning is also in place for the south west of England.
Met Office forecaster Marco Petagna told PA: “Parts of north-west Scotland still have 34cm of snow lying, elsewhere this is around 9cm, and in sites across Northern Ireland we’ve got 7cm, and in Wales as well. The main thing elsewhere is frost and ice, showers are focused towards the north and west of the UK, so elsewhere a frosty and icy, but dry start.
"Lighter winds in the south on Thursday, so it’s not going to feel quite as raw, even though temperatures are still cold, there will be less of a wind chill effect. Gradually it will turn less cold over the next few days, we hold onto it generally today and tomorrow, but into the weekend Atlantic air starts to come in, bringing temperatures up to double figures.”
A level three cold weather alert issued by the UK Health Security Agency, warning of conditions that “could increase the health risks to vulnerable patients and disrupt the delivery of services” is in place until 9am on Friday.
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