UK weather live: Roads flooded and trains cancelled as flight disruption continues amid snow and ice warnings
Hundreds of flood warnings and alerts in place after most of country saw heavy snow or icy rainfall over weekend and consequent disruption
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Your support makes all the difference.Travel chaos is continuing on the first Monday of the new year as weather warnings for snow, ice and rain remain in force across much of the UK.
Hundreds of flood warnings and alerts have been issued as a result of heavy rain and thawing snow, leading to fears of further disruption as key roads have already flooded this morning.
Millions of commuters in the UK are facing difficult journeys as trains have also been cancelled.
Meanwhile, disruption continues at major UK airports, where flights have been delayed for a second day, with Manchester, the country’s third-busiest airport, closed for a second morning due to heavy snow, although it has now reopened.
Most of the UK saw heavy snow or icy rainfall over the weekend that caused travel chaos, with runways shut, rail services cancelled, and stranded vehicles and collisions also blocking key roads across northern England.
Today, again, almost all areas of the UK are facing a weather warning, as seven yellow alerts remain in place, with the Met Office warning of travel disruption.
The Environment Agency issued 173 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, and 304 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible, across England as of 9am on Monday. At the same point, National Resources Wales had issued three flood warnings and 35 flood alerts.
Met Office forecasts ‘unsettled afternoon’ across the country
The Met Office has forecast an “unsettled afternoon” to come across the country.
Heavy rain, sleet and snow will continue, with weather warnings in place for many, including an amber warning for snow across parts of northern England.
The sleet and snow will continue to push north on Sunday and be heaviest in northern England and into southern Scotland.
After experiencing freezing rain for a time, the south will turn milder.
Leeds Bradford Airport’s runway ‘remains closed until further notice’
Leeds Bradford Airport said its runway would remain closed until further notice while it continues to mitigate heavy snowfall.
In an update on its website, the airport said access through security may be temporarily restricted due to the number of customers already in its departure lounge.
It added its team were “working tirelessly” to clear the falling snow and it would reopen as soon as it is safe to do so, with the next update expected at 2pm.
The airport had earlier said it was hoping to reopen its runway at midday.
Huge delays at Manchester as airlines struggle to recover schedules
Besides the dozens of diversions and cancellations at Manchester airport, thousands of passengers have endured delays of four hours or more. Many of them have been at the airport since 4am for pre-dawn flights.
The worst-affected passengers appear to be on Tui ski flights to Chambery, Turin and Toulouse – all of which are over six hours behind schedule.
Slights shorter delays are affecting many easyJet and Ryanair flights.
The scheduled dawn departures to Amsterdam on KLM, to Frankfurt on Lufthansa and to Paris on Air France all departed over four hours late, scuppering hundreds of connections.
Status orange weather warnings remain in place for 11 counties in Ireland
A status orange weather warning remains in place for 11 counties in the south of Ireland as up to 10cm of snow is expected to fall in some places.
Snow, ice, heavy rain and sleet swept over the island of Ireland with Met Eireann warning of further falls of snow later on Sunday.
Thousands of homes and businesses have been left without power overnight.
Read more here:
Status orange weather warnings remain in place for 11 counties in Ireland
Thousands of homes and businesses have been left without power overnight.
Liverpool-Man Utd goes ahead at Anfield after safety meetings due to heavy snow
Liverpool’s home game against Manchester United on Sunday will go ahead as planned.
Overnight snow across Merseyside and the north-west made road conditions for both sets of fans difficult and threatened to force a postponement.
Liverpool City Council’s Safety Advisory Group met twice on Sunday with concerns over access to Anfield but the fixture – one of the biggest in English football – will kick-off as scheduled at 4.30pm.
“Today’s fixture against Manchester United will go ahead as planned,” league leaders Liverpool posted on their official X account.
“Two safety meetings were held earlier to assess the weather and travel conditions.
“We thank everyone involved in helping us to get this game on today. If you’re travelling to Anfield then please take extra care. We look forward to seeing you there.”
Councils across London and southern England activate emergency measures
Councils across London and southern England have activated emergency measures.
This includes additional accommodation to help rough sleepers stay safe during the cold snap.
Cold weather health alerts for all of England remain in place
UK Health Security Agency cold weather health alerts for all of England remain in place ahead of a week of low temperatures.
Amber alerts were issued on Thursday and will run until Wednesday, meaning a rise in deaths is likely, the agency said.
Manchester airport: runways open, but dozens of cancellations
Dozens of flights to and from Manchester have been grounded after the airport was closed for three hours on Sunday morning.
Even though operations have resumed, many of the first wave of departures have been cancelled.
Britain's biggest budget airline, easyJet has cancelled a dozen flights to and from destinations including Lisbon and Faro in Portugal, Prague and Sofia.
In addition, flights incoming from Munich, Vienna, Zurich and Helsinki could not reach Manchester and the outbound segments have been cancelled.
Up to 25cm of snow as well as ice could hit roads in northern England, National Highways warns
Up to 25cm of snow as well as ice could hit roads in northern England, National Highways has warned.
Snow closed the A628 Woodhead Pass which connects Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire through the Peak District overnight in both directions between the A616 at Flouch and the A57 at Hollingworth.
The A66 in County Durham and Cumbria was closed between the M6 and A1M because of the conditions, while two of four lanes on the M1 northbound between J30 Worksop and J31 Sheffield in South Yorkshire were shut after a collision involving a HGV.
One lane of the northbound A3 in Hampshire was closed on Sunday morning due to flooding following overnight snow, National Highways said.
As well as snow, National Highways warned rain may initially fall on frozen ground and lead to ice, with areas of high ground, including the Cotswolds and Peak District, most at risk.
What weather warnings have been issued by Met Office across UK today
Two amber weather warnings from the Met Office have been put in place in England and Wales, with 3cm to 7cm of snowfall predicted for much of the affected area, mixing with rain at times in lower-lying areas.
The forecaster has also issued yellow warnings covering almost the entire country across the weekend.
- One amber warning for snow and freezing rain, which covers much of Wales and the Midlands as far north as Manchester, is in place until midday on Sunday.
- The second amber warning for snow, covering most of northern England including Leeds, Sheffield and the Lake District, is in place until midnight on Sunday.
- A yellow warning for snow and ice covers most of the remaining parts of England and Wales until midnight.
- A yellow warning for snow and ice covers large parts of Northern Ireland from 6pm on Sunday.
- The north of Scotland is covered by a yellow warning for ice until 10am on Sunday.
- Another yellow warning for snow and ice is in place in the east of central Scotland until 6am on Monday.
- And a yellow warning for snow is in place across most of southern Scotland between midnight on Sunday and 6am on Monday.
- There is also a yellow warning for rain covering much of Wales and the West Midlands on Sunday from 6am to 9pm.
- Another yellow warning for rain covering most of southern England is in place from 8.51am on Sunday until 9am on Monday.
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