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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Antony Thrower

UK weather: Brits brace for travel chaos as Met Office issues fog warnings after big freeze

Brits are bracing for travel chaos this weekend after the Met Office issued fog warnings across the UK.

The freezing conditions will arrive in the west of the country and will also affect London and areas of the South East on Friday night.

The heavy fog is expected to stay until Saturday morning.

The warning is in place from 2am tomorrow until 11am, with those on the roads or taking flights expected to be the worst affected.

The Met Office warnings read: "Freezing fog is expected to develop during Friday night and will be slow to clear in places through Saturday morning.

The weather warning covers parts of England and Wales (Getty Images)

"Some fog could be quite dense with the visibility falling below 100 metres at times. Additionally, freezing fog may lead to some untreated surfaces becoming slippery.

"Western England is more likely to see freezing fog persist into late morning and in a few places into the afternoon."

It comes after temperatures plunged in the UK this week, with Drumnadrochit near Inverness in the Highlands hitting -10.4C in the early hours of Thursday, making it the coldest recorded temperature of the year so far.

Topcliffe in north Yorkshire reached -7.4C (18.68F), the coldest in England, forcing Manchester Airport was forced to close both its runways due to heavy snowfall.

A plane travelling 4,000 miles from Atlanta, US, was diverted to an airport in London.

The airport said in a statement: "Following the temporary closure of our runways due to snow, we are pleased to report that operations have resumed. We thank passengers for their patience."

The freezing conditions are expected to stay in place until 11am on Saturday (Getty Images)

The cold conditions will extend into the weekend.

Dale Hipkiss, National Network Manager at National Highways, said motorists should also "allow lots of extra time" when travelling in case they encounter delays.

Milder conditions are expected to arrive early next week, with temperatures nudging towards the mid-single figures overnight by Tuesday and Wednesday.

People have been advised to allow plenty of time for tomorrow's journeys (AFP via Getty Images)

This week heavy rain flooded the south west as the Environment Agency said up to seven temporary pumps were working at Northmoor to help reduce the water levels in the area and "we are already seeing the benefits".

Earlier this week a major incident was declared in Somerset due to the risk of flooding across the county.

Enhanced pumping began on Tuesday evening at Northmoor pumping station to reduce the amount of water being stored.

Flights could be affected, says the Met Office (Getty Images)

Regions and local authorities affected

East Midlands

Derby

Derbyshire

Leicester

Leicestershire

Lincolnshire

Northamptonshire

Nottingham

Nottinghamshire

London & South East England

Buckinghamshire

Milton Keynes

Oxfordshire

North West England

Cheshire East

Cheshire West and Chester

South West England

Bath and North East Somerset

Bristol

Gloucestershire

North Somerset

Somerset

South Gloucestershire

Swindon

Wiltshire

Wales

Monmouthshire

Powys

Wrexham

West Midlands

Herefordshire

Shropshire

Staffordshire

Stoke-on-Trent

Telford and Wrekin

Warwickshire

West Midlands Conurbation

Worcestershire

Yorkshire & Humber

East Riding of Yorkshire

North Lincolnshire

North Yorkshire

South Yorkshire

West Yorkshire

York

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