UK weather news - live: Snow hits as far south as London during -6C Arctic freeze as ice warning issued
Met Office issues multiple alerts, warning of potential for injury and road and rail delays
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A blast of icy Arctic air has seen snow blanket parts of Britain, with flurries reported as far south as London, prompting warnings of travel disruption.
After overnight temperatures dropped as low as -6C in Scotland, much of the UK remained in sub-zero conditions on Thursday morning, with the mercury forecast to sit at 0C in St Alban’s, -3C in Derry and and -2C in Glasgow.
Predicting hail, sleet and snow across the country, the Met Office has issued multiple weather alerts for ice on Thursday and Friday stretching the length of the UK, warning of the potential for injury and, in southeast England, disruption on rail and road networks due to ice and possibly snow.
There were already reports of long queues on the M62 near Greater Manchester on Thursday, with the icy conditions blamed for multiple accidents reported on the A61 in Derbyshire.
Motorists were urged to take care where necessary, while several councils in northeast England introduced severe weather emergency protocols, including services to help people who are sleeping rough try to stay safe.
We’ll be pausing updates on the blog for a while, thanks for following here.
You can keep scrolling to find forecasts for the days ahead, and clips and images of the conditions seen in England so far today.
Potentially ‘gale force’ winds making conditions feel colder, Met Office says
According to the Met Office, blustery winds are making the below average temperatures feel even colder today.
This is happening particularly in the east and southeast, where winds “may touch gale force on exposed coasts”, the national forecaster said.
Images and videos of snow across England are continuing to dominate our social media feeds this afternoon. Here are a few:
Colder weather may jeopardise UK gardeners
The drop in temperatures could pose a risk for some of the nation’s gardeners.
The Royal Horticultural Society’s Guy Barter said: “Colder weather will slow plant growth and inhibit plums and pears pollination as insects fly less in cold dull weather.
“Limited rain will help new sowings of peas and carrots for example and newly planted lettuces and other plants but should not greatly delay sowing and planting once conditions improve. Tender plants, petunias and tomatoes for example, won’t be put outside for another month at least but lower light affects greenhouses and will slow their growth.”
Here are some of the latest photographs of the today’s snowfall in the UK:
Wintry spell expected to last until Monday at least, says Met Office
The wintry chill is expected to prevail across the UK for the next four days at least, according to Met Office predictions.
On Friday, Brits are in store for sunny spells and further biting showers, most frequently along parts of the north and east coasts.
Forecasters also said a more organised area of rain is likely to affect parts of western Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The outlook for Saturday to Monday is not too dissimilar, with wintry showers expected to wash over the country before temperatures inch higher into Sunday and Monday - which will bring with it cloudy and wet spells.
‘Fair amount of sunshine’ expected this weekend
With memories of 20C sunshine just a few days ago still strong in the minds of many, forecasts suggest brighter weather is again on the horizon for this weekend.
“Showers will become less frequent, but still with the chance of some wintry showers affecting the east coast and the North Sea coast in particular through Saturday", Met Office meteorologist Matty Box said.
"There should be a fair amount of sunshine as well with sunny spells in between."
Snow reported across England this morning
Here are some more clips and images of the snow this morning from social media:
Thunder and further snow forecast for this afternoon
Despite the weather set to heat up a little this afternoon, further snow is expected in some areas – and potentially some thunder.
According to the Met Office, the afternoon will be bright and cold in most parts, with blustery winds and spells of sunshine, despite some showers which at times will fall as hail and snow.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments