The Met Office has issued a new 18-hour snow and ice warning for the West Midlands. On top of an existing Yellow weather warning, the forecaster has upgraded the threat of snow to Amber for large parts of England and Wales.
The new Amber alert is due to begin at 6pm tomorrow on Saturday, January 4, and run until 12pm on Sunday, January 5. It means there will be two weather warnings in the region, with a Yellow weather warning of snow and ice currently in place from 12pm tomorrow until 11.59pm on Sunday. There could be up to 7cm (2.7in) of snow in places.
In the upgraded Amber alert, the Met Office has warned of a greater chance of disruption taking place. The Met Office has issued the following warnings:
- A good chance that power cuts could occur, potentially affecting other services such as mobile phone coverage
- Delays on roads are likely, leaving vehicles and passengers stranded
- Longer journey times and road closures possible
- Potential delays and cancellations to bus and rail services
- A good chance that some rural communities could become cut off
- Untreated pavements and cycle paths will likely become impassable
READ MORE: All the Midland regions set for 5 inches of snow as -8C chill forecast changes
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The Met Office said: “Snow will become persistent and locally heavy as it pushes south to north across the warning area. As well as snow, a period of freezing rain is also likely bringing some hazardous travel conditions, before milder air follows across all areas by Sunday morning.
“Whilst there is some uncertainty in details, 3-7 cm of snow is likely for much of the warning area, with locally 15-30 cm for the higher ground of Wales and the southern Pennines. Freezing rain could lead to ice accretion in places, especially parts of Wales, before the milder air leads to a rapid thaw of snow and ice in the south of the warning area through Sunday.”
The Met Office’s Amber alert
(Image: Met Office)