UK weather: New weather warnings issued amid major travel disruption as rail strikes continue
More snow and ice is on the way for many parts of the UK after the record for the coldest night of the year so far was broken for the second night in a row.
The Met Office has extended a yellow warning for snow and ice covering northern Scotland and North East England until midday on Friday.
It comes as the body of a woman in Shetland, Scotland, was found on Tuesday following severe snowfall in the region, though it is not yet known if her death was related to the weather.
The areas covered by the warning could get up to 10cms of fresh snow on higher ground, Met Office spokesperson Becky White said.
“We could see a good few new centimetres of snow accumulation,” she said.
“We could see around 1-4cms at lower levels and 5-10cm on higher ground across the Highlands.”
Snow and ice warnings are also in place in the South West from 6pm on Tuesday until 10am Wednesday, with Ms White saying there will be a “risk of ice across the country over the next few days, but particularly tonight”.
“There is a band of rain moving in from the South West, but it may turn into snow as it reaches land,” she added.
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Forecasters predict the South West could be hit with 1-2cm of snow at lower levels, and 1-10cm of snow at higher ground such as Dartmoor and Exmoor.
An ice warning has been issued for eastern England from 3pm on Tuesday until midday on Wednesday.
The Met Office has also put a yellow ice warning in place for northern parts of Northern Ireland, including Belfast and Londonderry from midday on Tuesday until midday on Wednesday.
Braemer in Aberdeenshire was the coldest place in the whole of the UK on Tuesday night, with temperatures dipping to -17.3C, breaking Monday’s record of -15.7C.
A man walks with a baby in Braemar, Scotland
Dozens of schools were forced to close across the country for a second day due to the freezing weather as many reported heating failure, burst pipes and snow and ice.
In Shetland, power outages due to severe snowfall have been declared a major incident by the Scottish government.
Justice Secretary Keith Brown, lead minister for resilience, said that while the Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) is making every effort to restore supplies, “it is clear that many properties will face days without power”.
Late on Tuesday, Police Scotland issued a statement saying they had discovered the body of a woman “near to an outbuilding in the Ollaberry area of Shetland at around 1.30pm”.
The force added: “Enquiries into the death are ongoing but it is not believed to be suspicious. A report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.”
Elsewhere, the RAC experienced its biggest day for breakdowns on record, with around 12,000 drivers needing assistance.
Drivers have been urged to use main roads “as much as possible” as icy roads are “the biggest problem for drivers”.
Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA, said motorists are “slipping and sliding” as sub-zero temperatures have frozen snow and uncleared ice.
He advised drivers to use main roads “as much as possible” and added: “Slow and steady is the only option when driving on frozen roads.”
Travel disruption
Travel disruption also continued on Tuesday as icy roads made conditions difficult.
The Met Office warned motorists there would be icy stretches on untreated roads, pavements, and cycle paths due to the thawing of snow left over from Monday.
Cars negotiate Winnats Pass in the Peak District as snow and ice swept across parts of the UK
After drivers were left stranded on the M25, Transport Secretary Mark Harper defended the response of the highways authorities to the cold snap.
He said that National Highways staff had been working “incredibly hard” to keep the roads moving.
And the cold snap hasn’t just affected travel on the ground. A total of 233 departures from UK airports were cancelled amid wintry conditions on Monday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Stansted was the worst affected airport, with 78 flights cancelled.
Rail strikes
Weather-related travel disruption was also followed by the first of a wave of train strikes on Tuesday.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union are going ahead with two 48-hour strikes at Network Rail, and 14 train companies, from Tuesday and Friday.
Trains will only run from 7.30am to 6.30pm on this week’s strike days, while many parts of the country will have no services, including most of Scotland and Wales.
Read more:
Strikes every day before Christmas – which sectors are affected and why
A woman pulls a shopping trolley in a snow covered residential area in Leytonstone, London. Pic: AP
The strike has also caused disruption across the London Underground, with the Bakerloo line part suspended between Harrow & Wealdstone to Queens Park due to the rail strike.
Meanwhile, police confirmed on Monday that three boys aged eight, 10 and 11 died after falling through ice into Babbs Mill Lake in Solihull.
A fourth boy, aged six, remains in a critical condition after the incident on Sunday afternoon.
A workman saved a seven-year-old boy from a burning car in the aftermath of a deadly crash caused by a suicidal ex-pilot, an inquest has heard.
The schoolboy’s rescue came following the collision on the M6, which killed former RAF man Richard Woods and four others, in October last year.
Last week a coroner ruled that Woods, 40, took his own life by deliberately driving his Skoda the wrong way down the motorway while drunk and hitting a Toyota Yaris head-on.
The driver of the Toyota, Jaroslaw Rossa, 42, was also killed, along with his two sons, Filip, 15, and Dominic, seven, and his partner Jade McEnroe, 33.
Cockermouth Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday that Ms McEnroe’s son was also in the car but survived after workman Gavin Walsh came to his rescue at the scene, which was near Tebay services in Cumbria.
In a statement to the inquest, Mr Walsh said he was a passenger in a transit van travelling to Scotland when he witnessed the crash.
He jumped out of the vehicle and used a jack to smash the rear windscreen of the Toyota and pulled the boy out of the burning vehicle.
Mr Walsh said: “We really did try, I can assure everyone we did our best. We only had minimal time.
“I saved a life that day and I hope never to witness anything like that again.”
He added that he has never stopped thinking about the boy, and said: “I hope we will meet again one day and I will give you a massive hug.”
At the time, the family were returning to Glasgow from a trip to Legoland in Windsor, Berkshire.
The inquest heard that Wood, who was travelling at a speed of at least 65mph, would have been charged with manslaughter had he survived.
Recording conclusions of unlawful killing, Cumbria assistant coroner Margaret Taylor said: “I found that Jaroslaw, Jade, Filip and Dominic died as a consequence of the unlawful acts of another driver.”
The inquest heard how Mr Woods, from Cambridgeshire, had served a distinguished 14-year career in the RAF and was a flight instructor for BAE Systems at the time of his death.
Jade McEnroe. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Dominic and Filip. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
In Ms Taylor’s record of inquest, Mr Woods was said to have been experiencing “a number of stressors in his life” and had a “history of harmful use of alcohol”.
Following the crash, he was found to be nearly four times over the legal drink-drive limit and a two-thirds empty bottle of gin was found in his car.
On the day of his death, concerns had been raised over his behaviour at a work conference near Preston in Lancashire.
Mr Woods failed to return to his seat after lunch and was later spotted driving erratically and swerving across three northbound carriageway lanes on the M6.
After pulling onto the hard shoulder, he then proceeded to U-turn and drove southward on lane three.
Filip, Dominic and Jaroslaw Rossa. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Detective Sergeant Deborah Story, from Cumbria Police, told the inquest that Mr Woods would have been prosecuted on four counts of manslaughter had he lived.
She said hypothetical charges of murder were considered by detectives but not thought appropriate because of a lack of information that Mr Woods knew the family or anything that provided a link between them.
Ms McEnroe’s parents, Marie McEnroe and George McNellis, told the coroner they thought it was “murder”.
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A statement from the mother of Filip and Dominic, and the ex-wife of Mr Rossa, Kamila, was read out at the inquest.
She said Mr Rossa, known as Jarek, was born in Poland where they became a couple and went on to have three boys.
He loved playing computer games and had “lots of friends”, she said, and worked at the Wagamama restaurant in Silverburn, Glasgow.
She said she was “devastated” over the deaths, adding: “Our lives will never be the same.
“I am heartbroken at the passing of my beloved angels Filip and Dominic.”
Marie McEnroe said her daughter, a spa therapist, had been in a relationship with Mr Rossa for about two-and-a-half years.
She said Jade had been a “brilliant mother” to her only child, was “really happy” with Mr Rossa and it was “lovely chaos” when all the boys were playing together.
Ms McEnroe added: “Life changed forever that day”.
Ms Taylor praised the “selfless acts of bravery” from those in the aftermath of the collision, including Mr Walsh, who she said went towards the burning car “without hesitation for his own safety”.
The coroner added: “Without his swift response, Jade’s child would also have perished.”
Addressing the bereaved family members, she said: “Your loss is unimaginable but you have conducted yourself with dignity and I thank you for that. I wish you strength for the future.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
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