Closing summary
This blog will be closing shortly, but you can keep up to date with all of the Guardian’s UK weather coverage here.
Here is a summary of the latest events:
Weather warnings remain in force across the UK as Britons are braced for temperatures to plummet as low as -20C. The BBC’s weather forecaster, MeteoGroup, is predicting Thursday night to reach -20C in remote parts of northern England and Scotland, while the Met Office is forecasting -16C. Wednesday night’s coldest temperature was recorded at Shap in Cumbria at -11.2C.
New yellow weather warnings for ice have been issued for large parts of the UK. The majority of Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as large parts of the east of England, are covered from 4pm on Thursday until 10am tomorrow. A separate ice warning covering south and west Wales down to Plymouth from 3am to 11am tomorrow is also in place.
The Met Office has warned to expect icy patches on untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths, and scattered wintry showers on Thursday evening.
Hundreds of schools have been closed across northern Scotland amid a weather warning for snow and ice which has been extended until Friday. The Met Office yellow weather warning covers Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray, the Highlands of Scotland, Orkney and Shetland, as well as the Outer Hebrides, and is now in place until 10am on Friday. It warns snowfall could reach up to 10cm in higher regions.
Cold temperatures, snow, ice and flooding have caused travel disruptions. Transport for Wales said some rail lines in the country are closed because of track damage after a period of “heavy wind, rain and snow”, while Manchester airport temporarily closed its runways on Thursday morning due to “significant levels of snow”. The line between Liskeard and Looe in Cornwall had to be closed due to flooding, said Great Western Railway. Weather conditions in Northern Ireland have also caused disruption to some transport services and some schools were closed.
The weather forecaster said that Wednesday night saw England, Wales and Northern Ireland’s coldest night of the winter, with -11.2C, -7.9C and -7.2C respectively. In Scotland, -12.4C was recorded at Tulloch Bridge in Inverness-shire, not quite as low as the winter low of -13.3C recorded on 6 January.
Temperatures in parts of Ireland dropped to -7.5C overnight while weather warnings remain in place. The lowest temperature was recorded by Met Éireann in Mullingar, County Westmeath, in central Ireland.
Work remains ongoing to restore power, with about 200 homes, farms and businesses in Ireland said to be affected, while about 4,500 customers – mainly in counties Tipperary, Limerick and Kerry – are without water. A yellow warning for low temperatures and ice covers all of Ireland until midday on Friday, with widespread frost, ice, lying snow and some patches of freezing fog expected.
An orange weather warning for low temperatures and ice was issued on Thursday morning for counties Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Cavan, Monaghan, Galway, Roscommon and Tipperary. Travel disruption and delays and poor visibility are expected in affected areas for this warning which applies from 7pm on Thursday to 8am on Friday.
Oli Claydon, spokesperson for the Met Office, told the PA news agency it will be “bitterly cold” on Thursday night. He said the lowest temperatures will be recorded in rural Scotland and rural northern England where there is lying snow, cloudless skies and very cold airflow.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has extended its cold weather health alert for all of England until Sunday. Amber alerts have been extended and will now run until 12 January, meaning a rise in deaths is likely, the agency said.
The number of people in hospital with flu in England continues to rise, with staff reporting they are under the same pressure as at the height of the Covid pandemic, the NHS medical director has said. Prof Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said: “It is clear that hospitals are under exceptional pressure at the start of this new year, with mammoth demand stemming from this ongoing cold weather snap and respiratory viruses like flu – all on the back of 2024 being the busiest year on record for A&E and ambulance teams.”
An NHS trust is preparing to cancel operations, urgently discharge 140 patients and restrict admissions to help it cope with “extreme winter pressures”. The Gloucestershire acute trust declared a “critical incident” on Wednesday as hospitals in England asked patients seeking medical help to come alone to reduce overcrowding in A&E.
Updated
The Met Office has released a satellite image which shows how the view from space also identifies which parts of the country have lying snow. You can take a look at it below.
Have you heard of the word apricity?
— Met Office (@metoffice) January 9, 2025
It means the warmth of the sun on your skin in winter. Many of us may have felt this today, as it's crisp and sunny out there for the majority ☀️
This view from space also identifies which parts of the country have lying snow ❄️ pic.twitter.com/TEgcR3fGAS
