UK weather: ‘Treacherous conditions’ wreak havoc on travel – with more blizzards on the way
“Hundreds and hundreds” of stranded drivers have been stuck in “never-ending” miles-long tailbacks overnight in heavy snow – and forecasters say blizzards are on the way and will cause “treacherous conditions”.
Travellers have been warned of train and flight cancellations, while the Met Office says the cold snap is moving south, as Storm Larisa continues to batter the country.
Icy surfaces are also likely to develop, it warns, with snow drifts bringing “extra hazards” to the roads.
The Met Office said the greatest depth of snow recorded was 27cm at Capel Curig in North Wales.
Four yellow warnings for snow covered much of the rest of the nation, with the exception of southeast England and western Scotland.
Heavy snowfall left drivers stranded for more than seven hours on the M62 motorway in Greater Manchester and Yorkshire.
RAC breakdown spokesman Rod Dennis said the situation on the M62 was likely to have been caused by a large amount of snow falling in a short period.
Greater Manchester Police traffic officers said on Friday morning that ploughing and gritting on the motorway had been severely delayed due to drivers illegally using the hard shoulder and red X lanes.
National Highways North-West estimated that congestion on the eastbound carriageway, between Rochdale and Saddleworth, at one point stretched to around eight miles.
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Heavy snow brings treacherous conditions as people are urged not to travel
One driver, Kelly, told Sky News earlier this morning: “We’ve been stuck now for six hours.”
Asked how many other motorists were on the road and how long the queue was, she said: “There’s, I would say hundreds and hundreds and hundreds. It goes back for 16 miles, I think, one way, and I have no idea how far ahead it goes.
“We have managed to keep the heaters on… I have got my 15-year-old son here with me. I think he thought I was being dramatic, but I was like, we need to take blankets, we need to take coats, just in case, so we were well prepared.”
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Driver stuck on M62 in Lancashire for six hours
Emma Hamilton, 28, who works for the NHS and is from Yorkshire, said she had been stuck for eight hours travelling from Manchester. She said: “It honestly feels never-ending at this point.”
Public transport has also been affected, with Network Rail saying multiple fallen trees have blocked lines between Manchester and Sheffield, meaning no trains can run.
Air travel was also affected with the majority of flights departing Liverpool John Lennon Airport delayed on Friday morning due to “heavy snow falls”, with passengers urged to check with their airlines for further updates.
East Midlands Airport was shut for around three hours while flights were suspended at Birmingham Airport to clear snow from the runway and there were also delays at Bristol Airport.
When will the cold snap end?
The weather is expected to clear by the end of Friday, before then being replaced by another low pressure system.
Met Office chief forecaster Jason Kelly said: “The worst of the snowfall in England is over for now, but further weather warnings will be in force to cover the further hazards brought by frost and ice.”
The agency has issued a number of yellow weather warnings for snow and ice:
• Two ice alerts – one covering parts of Northern Ireland and another across southern Scotland, northern and eastern England, parts of the Midlands and large parts of Wales – are in place until 10am on Saturday
• An alert for snow and ice covering large swathes of Scotland is in place until 9am on Saturday
• Another snow and ice warning issued from 3pm on Saturday until 6am on Sunday – across northern England and southern Scotland
Meteorologist Alex Deakin said next week could bring a “continued battleground” between colder conditions and milder air pushing in from the Atlantic.
He added there will be “colder interludes” and the “potential for further snow” next week. It isn’t unusual for the country to experience a cold snap in spring, when conditions are often “highly variable”.
Statistically, the UK is marginally more likely to get snow in March than in December, the Met Office said.
‘Gusts of 50mph’ and ‘treacherous conditions’
Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said the worst of the weather was expected in northwest Wales and northern England, where “gusts of easily 50mph” are on a collision course with “30 to 40cm of snow”.
A pocket of western Scotland covering Glasgow and the county of Argyll is thought to be the only region untouched by deluges and snowfall.
People living in southern England are expected to bear the brunt of the downpours.
Mr Burkill said: “The combination of heavy snow and gales is why we’re likely to see blizzards and drifting snow which causes extra hazards on the roads.
“In places covered by amber warnings, there will be very difficult, treacherous conditions.
“Ideally, avoid travelling in those periods – but if you have to head out then be aware that journeys could take significantly longer.”
Pic: Cheshire East Council Highways
Travel warnings
The RAC on Friday said it has seen a sharp rise in drivers stranded in the snow in Yorkshire – particularly Sheffield, Leeds, Bradford and Hull.
Breakdowns volumes are also very high in the East Midlands and north of London, as motorists attempt to start their vehicles.
The A53 between Leek and Buxton on the Derbyshire/Staffordshire border, where the speed limit is usually 50mph
Derbyshire Constabulary urged drivers not to travel in the Peak District on Friday morning “unless absolutely necessary” as most roads in the High Peak and Derbyshire Dales areas were “impassable”.
Parts of the A66 in Durham and the A628 Woodhead Pass in South Yorkshire were also shut overnight due to heavy snowfall.
A fresh weather warning for snow has been issued for southern England, with cautions for snow and ice already in place across much of the country.
The Met Office’s yellow weather warning for snow covers the southern counties of England from 9am until midnight on Wednesday.
The warning stretches from Kent to Cornwall and up to south London and the Met Office said between two and five centimetres of snow could accumulate fairly widely, with as much as 10cm over higher ground.
Pic: Met Office
This week is expected to see the coldest nights of the year, with temperatures potentially reaching -14C on Wednesday night and -16C on Thursday night, both in the North East of England and Scotland, the Met Office said.
Weather warnings issued on Tuesday for snow and ice covering the Midlands, parts of North Wales, the North West of England, west and northern parts of Scotland as well as Northern Ireland will remain in place until midday on Wednesday.
The forecaster said some roads and railways are likely to be affected and there could be icy patches on untreated roads.
Pics: AP
Meanwhile the Environment Agency has said at least 300 properties have flooded across England since New Year’s Eve. It estimates more than 41,000 properties have been protected.
Heavy rainfall over the New Year caused significant river and surface water flooding across the North West of England and Yorkshire and snowmelt has brought further disruption to parts of England, particularly the Midlands, the agency said.
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Floods minister Emma Hardy said: “My sympathies go out to the people, businesses and communities impacted by the recent flooding across the country.
“I want to express my heartfelt thanks for the vital work that the Environment Agency and emergency services are doing to keep people safe. People must continue to follow their advice and sign up for flood warnings.”
Flood warnings
Some 100 flood warnings were in force across England on Wednesday, with people urged to remain vigilant over the coming days.
A danger-to-life warning was issued on Tuesday morning for the River Soar near Barrow upon Soar, Leicestershire, but was later removed.
People living in caravan parks in the area were urged by the Environment Agency to act, with a large-scale evacuation needed to save lives.
Firefighters have rescued dozens of people across Leicestershire since Monday, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service said.
Hundreds of schools were closed across the UK, with road and rail links blocked, as Manchester, Bristol and Liverpool John Lennon airports suspended flights because of the conditions.
A six-month-old baby who died after a collision in a multi-storey car park was on a family holiday to Wales.
Sophia Kelemen from Leigh, Manchester, died after the crash in a car park in the coastal town of Tenby, Pembrokeshire, on 2 January.
Sophia’s aunt, Adriana Kelemen, has now launched a fundraiser to help cover funeral costs.
Writing on the page, Ms Kelemen said “never in a million years” did she think she would have to write such a post.
Ms Kelemen said she hoped to “ease a very small part of [her] brother and sister-in-law’s hurt” by raising money to cover part of the funeral costs.
Sophia was taken to hospital after the crash and treated for her injuries but died the following day, police confirmed.
Dyfed-Powys Police said the crash happened on the ground floor of the car park and that a man had been charged in connection with the incident.
Sophia Kelemen. Pic: Adriana Kelemen/GoFundMe
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Ms Kelemen described her niece as “smiley and bubbly” and “so advanced for her age”.
Sophia was “playful and energetic” and “the cutest and most adorable girl”, her aunt added.
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A spokesperson for Dyfed-Powys Police said Sophia’s family were being supported by specialist officers.
The force said it was a “tragic incident” and asked the public not to speculate on the circumstances.
Jess Phillips has said “nothing is off the table” when dealing with the grooming gangs scandal – including a new national inquiry if victims want one.
The safeguarding minister told Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast that she would listen to victims on a new panel that was announced by the government this week.
“Nothing is off the table,” she said.
“And if the victims come forward to me in this victims panel and they say, ‘actually, we think there needs to be a national inquiry into this’, I’ll listen to them.”
Politics latest: Tories told to ‘put up or shut up’
Her comments come days after it emerged she had rejected calls from Oldham Council to hold a government inquiry into grooming gangs in the town, and said the council should commission one instead.
That has led to tech billionaire Elon Musk attacking her and Sir Keir Starmer for not holding a national inquiry and accusing the prime minister of being “complicit” in the abuse.
Professor Alexis Jay finished an eight-year national inquiry into child sexual abuse in 2022 and set out recommendations for the government.
Read more:
What happened in the grooming gangs scandal?
Why the Tories’ attempts to force inquiry won’t work
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Education sec ‘not interested’ in Musk comments
The Conservatives tabled an amendment to the Children’s Safeguarding and Schools Bill on Wednesday to require a statutory inquiry into grooming gangs.
However, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told Sky News the Tories “don’t care about children” as the amendment could prevent the entire bill from going forward.
She said: “The measures that I’m setting out today and the legislation in many ways go further because it puts a requirement on all councils to have teams working to keep children safe.
“And the bandwagon jumpers that have come along in recent days, they don’t care about children, they don’t care about making sure that we stop this and we take action.
“They had years to do it and they didn’t do it.”
The Conservatives also rejected a call from Oldham Council for a government inquiry in 2022.
You can listen to Beth’s full interview with Jess Phillips in a special episode of Electoral Dysfunction released on Thursday.
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