Snow blizzards to hit UK as Met Office issue ice warnings

Temperatures are set to plummet overnight bringing snow blizzards that could wreak havoc on roads and railways.

The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings for ice across the north of Wales, northern England and southern Scotland along with another for snow in Northern Ireland.

They are expected to remain in place from 9pm tonight through to 11am Sunday morning.

The warnings caution that some roads and railways are likely to be hit with longer journey times.

Icy surfaces are also likely to increase the risk of falls and accidents, the Met Office said.

Meteorologist Greg Dewhurst forecast ‘icy conditions developing on the roads’ this evening with snow falling across the highlands in North Wales and the Pennines.

In cities the mercury is expected to dip close to freezing.

Sunday morning will bring an icy start across parts of Wales, the north of England, Northern Ireland and southern Scotland with showers moving northwards where they will likely fall as snow.

Areas likely to be affected include the East Midlands, North East England, West Midlands, Wales, Yorkshire, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Central, Tayside and Fife.

Those set to be worst hit include Wales, the North West and East, as well as the East Midlands look to be worse hit, with Leeds, Glasgow, Belfast and Derry most vulnerable to the icy conditions.

‘Into the afternoon it will be very much a repeat performance of the unsettled weather,’ Mr Dewhurst continued.

‘We will continue to see some sunny spells but a scattering of showers, still falling as snow generally over the higher ground, particularly in the north.’

For most of us temperatures will struggle to get above 6C.

Those lucky ones forecast to see highs of 9C are set to feel a lot colder thanks to the cold winds blasting through at between 40 and 50mph.

Clearer skies in places further north should also brace themselves for freezing temperatures moving into Monday morning.

But the cold snap should clear away by the end of the week, with most places getting back to double figures of around 13C.