Snow sweeps UK after coldest night of the year

Manchester Airport shuts runways over weather

Snow has swept across parts of the UK as weather warnings remained in place during the cold snap.

The Met Office said Britain had its coldest night of its year so far overnight into Saturday, with -9.2C recorded in a village in Scotland.

Areas in the North West, South East and Wales woke up to snow in the morning as freezing conditions continued.

Manchester Airport was forced to shut its runways due to heavy snow on Saturday morning. Dozens of flights have been diverted or cancelled, with tens of thousands of passengers affected by disruption.

Have you been affected by the cold weather? Get in touch with zoe.tidman@independent.co.uk

Meanwhile residents in Liverpool and Exeter were among those sharing images of the snow covering the ground and their snowmen in the freezing weather.

The Met Office said snow was likely inland across parts of western England, Wales and Northern Ireland throughout the day.

Its forecast said the weather would remain cold over the weekend, with wintery hazards including ice, snow and freezing fog. Temperatures are set to stay low, hitting minus -10C in isolated areas on Saturday and Sunday.

Snow has fallen in Northwich in Cheshire (Getty Images)

Yellow warnings remained in place for snow and ice across the weekend, warning travel disruption and injuries from slipping on the ground were likely.

On Saturday, the Met Office extended ice warnings in South West England, Wales and Northern Ireland to cover snow - as well as ice - until 12pm on Sunday. A yellow warning for snow and ice is in place for much of Scotland until 12pm on Sunday.

An RAC spokesperson has warned drivers to be cautious during the cold weather - and suggested England fans leave their car at home to watch the quarter-final against France on Saturday evening.

“The big freeze continues today and those heading out on the roads must be alert to the risk of ice, especially in the south and west of the UK which are covered by weather warnings,” Rod Dennis said.

Snow has been falling across the UK over the past days (PA)

Those hoping to travel to and from Manchester Airport faced travel disruption from the snow on Saturday morning when runways were closed. The shutdown has led to the cancellation of at least 20 flights.

The first arrival to be diverted was Tui’s inbound service from Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. It landed at Birmingham, as did Ryanair from Brussels, Prague, Aer Lingus from Dublin, Turkish Airlines from Istanbul and Swiss from Zurich.

Singapore Airlines had two flights due to land at Manchester: one from Houston, which is now in Paris, and the other from Singapore – which is on the ground at Heathrow, alongside Virgin Atlantic from Orlando and Ethiopian Airlines from Geneva.

Leeds Bradford has received the Aer Lingus arrival from Belfast and Ryanair’s flight from Alicante. The Ryanair arrival from Palma went to London Stansted.

Some planes simply turned around and went back to their starting point, including Lufthansa from Munich, SAS from Oslo and Loganair from the Isle of Man.

Under European air passengers’ rights rules, travellers whose flights are cancelled or delayed are entitled to be flown to their destination as soon as possible – and must be provided with meals, and if necessary accommodation, until they are able to travel.

On Sunday, a snow and ice warning kicks in at 9am for most of London and some of the South East until 9am on Monday, with a 30 per cent chance of up to 5cm of snow.

The Met Office said the conditions could lead to travel disruption, especially on Monday morning, and a small chance of some rural communities becoming cut off along with a possibility of power cuts and mobile phone coverage being affected.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) sent out a level three cold weather alert covering England until Friday having extended the alert from Monday.

The UK has been hit by freezing conditions (PA)

The Met Office’s chief meteorologist, Steve Willington, said on the weekend forecast: “It is staying cold with daytime temperatures remaining only a few degrees above freezing in many places over the coming days and overnight temperatures dropping to -10C or lower in isolated spots. Although below average, these temperatures are not that unusual for this time of year.”

“There is still a risk we could see some freezing fog in places particularly southern England, especially for Sunday and Monday mornings. And there is also a small risk of a band of sleet or snow moving into the far Southeast on Sunday.

“If this happens it could potentially bring some disruption, especially to rush hour on Monday.”