The Met Office has warned power cuts are possible across a swathe of counties in England this weekend. There is a small chance that power cuts will occur and other services, such as mobile phone coverage, may be affected, the Met Office says, as snowfall hits.
Five days’ worth of yellow Met Office warnings are in place. A yellow weather warning has also been issued for ice across western Wales, from 6pm on Thursday to 10am on Friday, the Met Office said, as the country prepares for the wintry conditions.
By Saturday, these warnings are replaced by a blanket warning for heavy snow across England, Wales and southern parts of Scotland, which will remain in place until Monday morning. About 5cm of snow is expected widely across the Midlands, Wales and northern England, with as much as 20-30cm over high ground in Wales and the Pennines, according to forecasters.
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The forecaster’s warning applies to the East Midlands, East of England, London, South East England, North East England, North West England, South West Scotland, South West England, Wales, the West Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber.
Cities listed in the alert include Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Northampton, Nottingham, Bedford, Cambridge, Luton, Hertford, Luton, Norwich, Peterborough, Southend-on-Sea, Ipswich, Thurrock, London, Milton Keynes, Buckingham, Southampton, Canterbury, Medway, Oxford, Reading, Slough, Reading, Windsor and Maidenhead.
Wokingham, Darlington, Durham, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland, Stockton, Blackburn, Chester, Blackpool, Bolton, Manchester, Liverpool, Preston, Warrington, Bath, Bristol, Gloucester, Swindon are also listed alongside York, Leeds, Hull, Sheffield, Birmingham, Coventry, Stratford on Avon, Warwick, Leamington Spa, Dudley, Wolverhampton and West Bromwich.
Age UK’s director, Caroline Abrahams, said the charity had already been contacted by some who were “worrying about what to do when this moment arrived”. She said: “We urge older people to do everything they can to stay warm, even if that means risking spending more on their heating than they feel they can afford.”