Fresh yellow weather warnings for ice have been issued for many areas of the UK, as some areas are threatened with blizzard conditions on Thursday.

An amber warning for snow – covering northeast England, including Scarborough, Whitby and parts south of Middlesbrough – is in force until 9pm on Thursday.

UK weather latest: Blizzard warning for amber area

The Met Office said there could be “significant snow accumulations” over the North York Moors and parts of the Yorkshire Wolds with up to 25cm (10ins) on hills above 100m (330ft).

“Gusty winds, giving occasional blizzard conditions, and perhaps a few lightning strikes, may accompany some of the showers, posing as additional hazards,” the warning added.

Some A-roads in North Yorkshire were reported to be “gridlocked”, according to Shingi Mararike, Sky News’ North of England correspondent, but he added gritters are out to deal with the bad weather.

Snow ploughs have been hard at work on the North York Moors and a thick coat of snow is covering the A169 between Pickering and Whitby.

Dozens of schools have been closed in North Yorkshire and Scotland.

A number of yellow warnings are also in force for snow and/or ice across large parts of Britain.

In many of the warnings issued by the Met Office, there are concerns that where “showers persist and/or snow partially thaws and then refreezes overnight, this will bring a risk of ice”.

Jo Wheeler, Sky’s weather presenter, said clear skies will allow temperatures to tumble again as Thursday night approaches, “with an early and severe frost expected, and the associated risk of icy stretches on untreated roads and pavements”.

Coldest night so far

Overnight Wednesday into Thursday was the coldest of the season so far, according to the Met Office.

Temperatures dropped as low as -6.6C (20F) in Benson, Oxfordshire. There were two -6.4C (20F) temperatures recorded in Wales (in Sennybrigde) and in Scotland (Dundreggan).

While in Northern Ireland it fell to -2.8C (27F) in Altnahinch Filters.

Cold health alerts in force

As well as the one amber weather warning covering parts of the UK, there are two amber health alerts in place in three areas of England from the UK’s Health Security Agency.

An amber health alert is designed to prepare health services, including for the potential for a rise in deaths among the over-65s and people with health conditions.

The alerts are in effect in North East and North West England, along with the Yorkshire and the Humber region until 8am on 22 November.

Yellow cold-health alerts are in place for the rest of England and also expire at the same point.

Walk like a penguin

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) is recommending that people should walk like penguins to avoid dangerous slips and trips on icy surfaces.

The technique, which went viral in previous winters, is back for 2025 as part of the health board’s winter campaign.

Laura Halcrow, falls prevention lead at NHSGGC, said: “It might look funny, but waddling really works. A slip on ice can cause painful injuries and even hospital stays, especially for older people.”

Turning wet and windy

Sky’s weather presenter, Jo Wheeler, adds that the forecast is set to change this weekend.

“We’ll trade the cold sunshine and wintry showers for wet and windy conditions with rain turning heavy as it crosses the country on Saturday.”

“The British weather, fickle as always, looks like delivering a brief change to this milder westerly flow followed by an equally quick change back to a chilly northerly flow.”

A man who used a metal detector to try to find a hidden handgun has been jailed for more than six years.

Liam McDermid, 25, admitted his involvement in serious organised crime after being spotted by a police surveillance operation while searching for the firearm in undergrowth in Edinburgh.

This is the first prosecution under Police Scotland’s Operation Portaledge, which was launched in response to gang violence that blighted the east and west of the country earlier this year.

Judge Lord Arthurson told McDermid only a “significant custodial disposal” would be appropriate in the case.

In his sentencing statement, the judge said: “The public interest in suppressing and punishing such serious organised criminal activity is extremely high, particularly so when, as in this case, lethal weapons are involved.

“The citizens of Edinburgh have been understandably and indeed rightly concerned by the recent upsurge in such criminality in their communities.

“In these exceptional circumstances, there requires accordingly, in my view, to be some degree of exemplary component in respect of the sentence to be imposed upon you today.

“This offence was planned and coordinated, and had clear links to serious and organised criminal activities.”

A court earlier heard how McDermid was observed by police surveillance officers getting a taxi to Edinburgh’s Roseburn Street on 5 June.

After visiting a shop, he was watched as he made his way to the Roseburn Path area of the Scottish capital.

Roseburn Path is a former railway line surrounded by dense shrubland and trees, and now serves as a popular walking and cycling route.

McDermid disappeared from view before emerging from the bushes with his face covered and with a metal detector.

He ditched the device after being unable to find the gun and was seen speaking on a black iPhone.

Officers swooped in to detain McDermid, and he was found to have gloves, a balaclava, and £320 in his possession.

Analysis of his mobile phone found he had carried out Google searches on how to use a metal detector, and text messages sent to another person included him saying he was going to “Gorgie to find that thing for him”.

The metal detector was recovered by officers, and a few days later, on 11 June, officers found the firearm and a magazine containing 10 rounds of 9mm bullets.

Lord Arthurson noted how the potentially lethal weapon was discovered during term time near to a nursery and junior buildings of a school.

McDermid last month pleaded guilty to a charge of being involved in serious organised crime. He returned to the High Court in Edinburgh for sentencing on Thursday.

Lord Arthurson highlighted the criminal’s lengthy record and noted how he was the subject of a restriction of liberty order (RLO) at the time of the gun incident.

Despite multiple convictions, up until now, he had never served a custodial sentence.

The judge noted the defendant’s history of cocaine misuse and adverse childhood experiences, adding: “You have a misplaced sense of loyalty to your criminal peers.”

McDermid, who was said to have expressed remorse for his offending, was jailed for six years and nine months.

Read more from Sky News:
Three charged over ‘missing ashes and fraud’ at ex-funeral directors
Ex-police officer given 37th life sentence over sex offences

More than 60 people have been arrested as part of Operation Portaledge, with the criminal activity including properties firebombed and shots fired in the nation’s streets.

Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Ferry said the recovery of the gun formed part of a “long and incredibly complex investigation”.

He added: “Liam McDermid is now facing the consequences of his actions.

“I hope this sentence sends a message to those involved in serious criminality that we remain determined to bring you to justice.”

The ringleader of a Romanian grooming gang was offered £1,500 by the Home Office to be deported while he was in prison awaiting trial for 10 rapes, a Sky News investigation has found.

Mircea Marian Cumpanasoiu, 38, led a network which raped, drugged and exploited vulnerable local women in Dundee.

But Sky News can exclusively reveal that in summer 2024, while in custody at HMP Perth awaiting trial for serial sex offences, officials handed him a “voluntary return” form under a government scheme paying foreign nationals to leave Britain.

The department later decided not to remove him because of the upcoming court proceedings.

Immigration status renewed during trial

In another twist, just months later – as he stood in a High Court dock facing 10 rape charges – Sky News has discovered Cumpanasoiu’s immigration status, which was due to expire, was automatically renewed under the EU settlement scheme.

Cumpanasoiu was later handed a 24-year extended sentence, with 20 years in jail and four on licence, for sexual and trafficking offences.

Prosecutors described him as a “winking, smirking pimp” who once filmed a victim climbing a tree to escape his anger when she “failed” to make enough money in Dundee brothels.

Following days of questions from Sky News, officials have confirmed his settled status has now been revoked.

The inside story

Sky sources say Home Office workers personally met Cumpanasoiu at Perth prison while he was on remand in August 2024.

Sources say he “expressed a desire to return home” and was handed documents to sign agreeing to a cash-assisted return, but the plan was later blocked.

But in another twist, on 2 December 2024, halfway through the grooming gang trial, his EU settled status was renewed.

A source close to proceedings told Sky News the revelations “smack of incompetence”.

The Home Office does not dispute this version of events.

Rape Crisis Scotland said the case raises concerns.

A spokesperson for the charity said: “This was a horrific case, which involved numerous vulnerable survivors who showed tremendous strength and courage by coming forward to seek justice for what had happened to them.

“The severity of this case has, quite rightly, resulted in significant prison sentences for the perpetrators. However, it is not clear why the Home Office tried to intervene before a trial had begun, and any verdict had been reached.

“Survivors must have faith in the criminal justice process and its ability to hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes.

“This incident raises questions about what the Home Office’s intentions were, and why it was able to insert itself into active criminal proceedings in the first place.”

Read more from Sky News:
Swinney ‘open’ to national inquiry into grooming gangs
Why are abuse survivors losing faith in grooming gang inquiry?

What is the EU Settlement Scheme?

The EU Settlement Scheme was set up after Brexit to allow citizens from the EU, and their family members, to continue living and working in the UK.

People with “settled status” can stay in the UK indefinitely.

Those with “pre-settled status”, such as Cumpanasoiu, must reapply after five years.

Since September 2023, the Home Office has introduced automatic extensions of pre-settled status which means renewals happen electronically unless officials intervene.

There are questions now about whether this automation can lead to offenders such as Cumpanasoiu being overlooked.

Home Office ‘had power to intervene’

Jen Ang, a human rights lawyer and leading expert on migrants’ rights, told Sky News the vast majority of those processed under the EU system are law-abiding citizens.

But Ms Ang, a professor at the University of Glasgow, reveals authorities did have the power to intervene in this case.

She said: “In this case the Home Office did have the power and the right to stop the automatic renewal. At any point where it is possible that someone is about to become unsuitable for settled status, the Home Office could have intervened.

“The optics of this in the context of such a high-profile and horrific crime are not great.”

‘The public are entitled to be concerned’

Thomas Leonard Ross KC, a leading Scottish defence lawyer, described the decision-making as “flawed”.

He said: “I mean automatically renewing pre-settled status in 99.9% of occasions can be done without any risk to the public. But clearly this particular individual has been assessed to be an extremely dangerous person.

“The public are perfectly entitled to be concerned. A decision of this type made automatically without any assessment as to the risk that he might pose is clearly a flawed decision.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “This man will serve his sentence for the abhorrent crimes he committed and will be considered for deportation at the earliest opportunity.

“A deportation order will automatically trigger the revocation of an individual’s right to be in the UK, including pre-settled status.”