The UK is set to see heavier snow on Monday as icy conditions stretch to more parts of northern and eastern England after a yellow warning alert was issued by the Met Office following the arrival of Arctic air.
Up to 5-10cm of snow is likely to accumulate over northern Scotland which has been witnessing chilly conditions since Sunday with temperatures feared to plummet as low as -10C.
In other areas, temperatures are expected to be close to the freezing point as rain, sleet and snow edge slowly southwards, while maximum temperatures are also expected to be in the single digits.
The Greater London area will see a maximum temperature of 7C while the minimum temperature can go down to 0C.
Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell said up to 20cm (4 inch) of snow could fall on high ground, with up to 10cm possible in low-lying regions.
From midnight on Sunday, the snow and ice spread to north-western England and north-eastern Scotland and could creep further down the east coast as far as Hull on Tuesday.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issued a cold weather alert and placed North-East England, North-West England and Yorkshire under a level three alert, with the rest of England at level two.
A level three alert means there is a 90 per cent chance of severely cold weather, icy conditions or heavy snow, which could increase the health risk to vulnerable patients, the NHS said.
All areas are under alert between 1am on Monday and midnight on Thursday.
Showers are expected to continue into Monday night and ice is likely to form on untreated surfaces where snow has melted by day.
Areas under the Met Office’s yellow weather warning are:
- Angus
- Dundee
- Fife
- Perth and Kinross
- Aberdeen
- Aberdeenshire
- Moray
- Na h-Eileanan Siar
- Highland
- Darlington
- Durham
- Gateshead
- Hartlepool
- Middlesbrough
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- North Tyneside
- Northumberland
- Redcar and Cleveland
- South Tyneside
- Stockton-on-Tees
- Sunderland
- Orkney Islands
- Shetland Islands
- East Lothian
- Midlothian Council
- Scottish Borders
- North Yorkshire
The Met Office earlier issued a yellow warning starting at 6pm on Sunday for snow in the north-east of Scotland, including Shetland.
According to deputy chief meteorologist Chris Almond, “very cold air” is set to be spreading across the UK through the week.
“This brings with it snow even to low levels in the north and east through Monday and Tuesday, and in excess of 10cm could accumulate, most likely on high ground in the north, but also settling for a time at lower levels.”
James Coles, team leader at Moffat Mountain Rescue, advised that upland areas, especially in the mountains, could see conditions change very rapidly, and they may be markedly different from surrounding lowland areas.
Meteorologist Honor Criswick said: “Potentially we could see some of the coldest temperatures so far this year. The lowest we have seen was in January at -10.4C, so we could see something turn lower than that.
“We are expecting between 5cm and 10cm of snow across higher ground, so if we see more accumulations on lower ground of between 2cm and 5cm we could see some travel disruption on Monday into Tuesday.”
Areas affected by the warnings could experience power outages, delays to road, rail and air travel, icy surfaces and some rural communities may be cut off by the freezing conditions.
It is important to take extra precautions when travelling in these areas, especially if it is necessary to go out in the snow and ice.
