The Met Office has issued NEW warnings spanning Thursday. New weather warnings will last until 11.59pm on Thursday, January 9, with forecasters urging UK households impacted by the alerts – mainly in Scotland – to “keep families safe”.
The alert impacts the Grampian, the Highlands and Orkney. “Keep yourself and your family safe when it is icy. Plan to leave the house at least five minutes earlier than normal. Not needing to rush reduces your risk of accidents, slips, and falls,” the Met Office has warned.
“If you need to make a journey on foot, try to use pavements along main roads which are likely to be less slippery. Similarly, if cycling, try and stick to main roads which are more likely to have been treated.”
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The warning relates to Highland, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Na h-Eileanan Siar, Orkney and Shetland. The forecasters add: “Snowy, wintry weather can cause delays and make driving conditions dangerous. Keep yourself and others safe by planning your route, giving yourself extra time for your journey. Check for road closures or delays to public transport and amend plans if necessary.”
Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Steve Willington, said: “With low temperatures persisting across southwestern parts of England, sleet or snow will fall to low levels in parts of Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset through Wednesday afternoon and evening.
“At locations above 150 m, 2-5 cm is possible, but over the higher ground of Dartmoor and Exmoor up to 10 cm could accumulate. More widely across southern England, a dusting of snow, up to a couple of centimetres, is possible as the system moves eastwards.
“The snow could cause some disruption to the transport network during this evening’s rush hour.” Deputy Chief Forecaster, Christoph Almond, said: “Thursday will see another cold night, with potentially the lowest temperatures of the Winter so far, -15°C – possibly -16°C is likely in locations with lying snow in Scotland or northern England.
“In the early hours of Friday, a front arriving from the west will encounter the cold air in place over the UK. This could bring further sleet or snowfall for some regions in the south and west, as well as a risk of ice for a time as it moves north-eastwards into central parts, but the extent of this is still uncertain.”
Mr Almond went on and said: “By Sunday, milder air will have moved in across much of the UK, meaning rain is more likely than snow as we get to the end of the weekend. Northern Ireland and Western Scotland are most likely to see some showery outbreaks of rain and breezy conditions through Sunday and Monday, with conditions further south and east drier and more settled, but with some overnight fog and frost.”