Brits wake up to roads covered with ice with warnings for travel chaos
Ice has covered parts of Britain today as temperatures plummeted to as low as -13.5°C in some areas overnight.
A yellow warning for ice has been issued for parts of England, Wales and Scotland until midday today.
People in Manchester, Newcastle, Plymouth, Glasgow, Cardiff and Edinburgh will be most affected by the conditions.
The Met Office has urged people to prepare for the extreme conditions, which are already causing some chaos on the roads.
Drivers have already issued warnings this morning after they were faced with ‘very slippery and hazardous roads’ covered with ‘black ice’.
One man in Epping Forest, in Essex, complained that the roads have turned into a ‘a literal ice rink’, forcing many elderly and vulnerable residents to remain trapped in their homes.
The Met Office warned there is also the potential for power supplies and mobile coverage to be affected.
The extended weather warning comes as a number of flights were cancelled or postponed yesterday amid heavy snow in parts of the UK.
Glasgow Airport was closed on Friday until its runaways were cleared from snow and ice. It reopened at around 11.30am.
Going into Sunday, the Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings for snow and ice across the country.
It will come into force at 3am tomorrow until 2pm in England, and from 7am until 9pm across Scotland.
Forecasters say temperatures could temporarily rise on Sundat but this will bring strong winds leading to snow, blizzards and ice and freezing rain.
This is expected to further create hazardous conditions on the roads.
Met Office deputy chief forecaster Helen Caughey said: ‘The northerly airflow and cold conditions which have dominated our weather patterns over the last 10 days will start to lose ground to a push of mild air from the south-west on Sunday.
‘As the mild air meets the cold air currently in situ over the UK there will be a transient spell of snow, potentially to low levels, especially in the north.
‘Add to this the risk of rain falling on to frozen surfaces, and strong winds over upland areas of northern Britain, bringing blizzard conditions, and this could be a day to avoid travelling in some areas, although the snow should turn to rain later.
‘There is also a brief risk of a period of freezing rain most likely to impact areas from the Pennines northwards, which could result in some power interruptions.’
Ms Caughey said cold temperatures were likely to return next week but it was still too early to say whether there would be a white Christmas.
She said: ‘It will remain unsettled next week. Strong winds could prove disruptive at times, especially through the first half of the week, and there is the possibility of some persistent rain for parts of the South West.
‘Although not as cold as we are currently experiencing, we could potentially see a return of some wintry hazards at times, mainly across higher ground in the north, but there is still a lot of uncertainty in how prolonged this might be and what associated hazards it might bring.
‘The unsettled picture for next week means, that although Christmas is just a week away, it is still not possible to say with any certainty if we will have a white Christmas Day or not.’
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