The Met Office has issued an urgent plea for residents across 51 specific areas of the UK to prepare three essential items ahead of a significant band of snow set to sweep across the country overnight.
13-Hour Yellow Warning for Snow and Ice
A yellow weather warning for snow and ice will be active from 2am until 3pm on Sunday. The alert covers extensive parts of Scotland and northern England, mirroring Saturday's conditions but extending further into the North West.
Forecasters predict that low-lying regions could see accumulations of up to 10cm of snow. On higher ground above 200 metres, as much as 20cm could blanket the landscape. Strong winds are expected to cause drifting snow and lead to widespread icy patches, significantly increasing the hazard level.
Essential Safety Kit and Potential Disruption
To stay safe during the severe conditions, the Met Office is advising the public to gather a basic emergency kit. The three key items highlighted are:
- Torches
- Batteries
- A mobile phone power pack
People are also encouraged to ensure they have any other personal essentials to hand. The warning highlights several serious risks, including:
Probable travel delays on roads, with a chance of stranded vehicles. Injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces are also likely. There is a further risk of power cuts, which could subsequently affect mobile phone network coverage in some areas.
Full List of Affected Regions
The 13-hour snow and ice warning encompasses the following regions and local authorities:
Central, Tayside & Fife: Angus, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Falkirk, Fife, Perth and Kinross, Stirling.
East Midlands: Derbyshire.
Grampian: Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray.
Highlands & Eilean Siar: Highland.
North East England: Darlington, Durham, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Northumberland, Redcar and Cleveland, South Tyneside, Stockton-on-Tees, Sunderland.
North West England: Cheshire East, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire.
Orkney & Shetland: Orkney Islands.
SW Scotland, Lothian Borders: Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian Council, Scottish Borders, West Lothian.
Strathclyde: Argyll and Bute, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire.
West Midlands: Staffordshire.
Yorkshire & Humber: North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire.
Further Warnings and Storm Aftermath
This new alert is currently the only Met Office warning in force for Sunday. However, a separate yellow ice warning remains active until midday on Saturday across a vast swathe of England and Wales, including London, the South East, the East Midlands, and the West Midlands.
This earlier warning cautions that partially thawed snow may refreeze, combining with freezing fog and wintry showers to create treacherous icy surfaces. Northern Ireland is also under a yellow snow and ice warning until 11am on Saturday.
The fresh bout of wintry weather follows the chaos caused by Storm Goretti, which brought gusts of up to 99mph to South West England earlier in the week. The storm resulted in tens of thousands of power cuts, widespread travel disruption, school closures, and dozens of flight delays and cancellations at major airports including London Heathrow and Birmingham.
