Summary of the day …
Winter weather has caused significant travel disruption across the UK and Ireland, with roads and trains affected, and power cuts impacting tens of thousands of people.
Yellow warnings for snow and ice are in place until tomorrow morning from the Met Office for most of Northern Ireland, the north and west of Scotland, most of Wales, and western and south-western regions of England
Snow and flooding was affecting railway services, with disruption reported between Nottingham and Grantham, between Peterborough and Leicester, between Derby and East Midlands Parkway/Nottingham and between Bristol Parkway and Gloucester
The M5 has been reopened southbound between junction 11a at Gloucester and junction 12 at Quedgeley after it was closed this morning, but delays remain
There were long delays to flight departures at Manchester airport after the runways were briefly closed in the morning by snow
The Environment Agency has 166 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, and 320 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible, active across England. At the same time, National Resources Wales has two flood warnings and 20 flood alerts in place.
Almost 60,000 homes and businesses were without power and 40,000 without water in Ireland overnight as a status yellow snow and ice warning has been issued by Met Éireann for the entire country until midday on Tuesday
About 100 customers were still without power on Monday lunchtime after more than 27,000 homes and businesses across Yorkshire and the north east of England lost power overnight during the cold snap, network operators Northern Powergrid said
PA Media reports Met Office chief meteorologist Frank Saunders said: “Hail, sleet or snow showers are expected to affect parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland, spreading to Wales and parts of north-west England this evening, before moving into part of south-west England, the Midlands and southern England during the early hours of Tuesday.
“Rain or hail is more likely towards some western coasts.
“Icy stretches which develop overnight as a result of these showers, or the recent wet conditions, could bring some disruption to travel.
“In addition to the ice, we could see snow accumulations of a few centimetres above 200 metres, with a chance of greater than 5cm above 200 metres in Wales.
“The heaviest snow showers may also produce temporary accumulations of 0-2cm at low levels.
“It is not possible to say exactly where this snow might fall, so it’s important that people are prepared.”
