Britain braces itself for a big freeze

Snow swept into northern parts of the UK yesterday and was expected to spread south last night, bringing health concerns and fears of travel disruption.

Matthew Martin, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, said: “There are already heavy snow showers moving into Northern Ireland and Scotland and they will extend into northern England.

“At first they will be sleety but we expect some accumulations in Scotland, Northern Ireland, northern Wales and northern and central England.

“We expect to see up to 10cm on the hills , and 2-5cm elsewhere, with temperatures commonly zero and falling to minus 3C in rural areas.

“On Thursday we expect to see snow showers spread further south across England, bringing a risk of snow in southern England and the greater London area, though it is not expected to be much.

“Tomorrow will be slightly less cold, then there will be a colder Arctic flow on Saturday bringing snow which will be generally restricted to coastal areas, and remaining very cold into early next week.”

A Met Office yellow “be aware” warning is in place for large parts of England and Wales, and an amber “be prepared” warning for parts of north west England, a large part of Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

A Met Office forecast warned there would be cold conditions across England for the next few days.

“Snow showers will affect most areas at times through the rest of this week and over the weekend with locally significant accumulations in places, particularly for hilly areas in the north,” it said.

“Showers and overnight frosts also bring the risk of icy stretches forming on untreated surfaces. Strong winds will accentuate the cold feel at times although it is likely to prevent any extremely low overnight minimum temperatures.”

Dr Angie Bone, head of extreme events at Public Health England, said: “Parts of England are really going to feel cold for the next few days.