Forecasters said snow and freezing rain will likely lead to disruption to transport
Snow in Calderstones Park, Liverpool (Image: Liverpool Echo)
The Met Office has issued an amber weather alert for snow and ice in Merseyside. The weather warning is in place from 6pm on Saturday, January 4 to 12pm on Sunday, January 5.
Forecasters said snow and freezing rain will likely lead to disruption to transport and some other services. The amber alert covers the majority of Merseyside, excluding Formby and Southport which is covered by a yellow weather warning.
The Met Office said there are several things people can expect with the alert. These include; a good chance power cuts may occur, with the potential to affect other services – such as mobile phone coverage – there’s a good chance there will be travel delays on, meaning some vehicles and passengers will become stranded, some road closures and longer journey times possible, some delays and cancellations to bus, rail and air travel are likely, there is a good chance that some rural communities could become cut off and untreated pavements and cycle paths likely to be impassable.
Dan Holley, deputy chief forecaster for the Met Office, said: “An Atlantic frontal system is likely to move across parts of central and southern UK through the weekend. With milder, moisture-laden air engaging with the cold conditions already in place this may bring a spell of snow in some areas, before possibly turning back to rain in the south.
The amber alert for snow and ice in Merseyside (Image: Met Office )
“At this stage there is a fair amount of uncertainty over exactly which areas will see disruptive snow, with parts of Wales, northern England and the Midlands most likely to see some impacts. Here we could see 5cm or more in quite a few areas, and perhaps as much as 20cm to 30cm over high ground, including Wales and the Pennines.
“Coupled with strengthening winds this could lead to drifting, making travelling conditions difficult over higher-level routes in particular. We’ve currently issued a Yellow warning for snow and ice covering a large part of England and all of Wales to cater for possible disruption over the weekend.
“A separate yellow warning for snow has been issued for most of Scotland. It’s quite likely these will be refined over the coming days as confidence in the forecast increases, so it’s worth keeping up to date with the latest warnings.”