The Met Office has issued a rare amber weather alert for snow in 21 counties in England tomorrow. The weather warning for snow has been put in place from 9pm tomorrow until midnight on Sunday as the forecaster warns rural communities could be “cut off”.
The Met Office has issued a amber alert for snow this weekend as the January snow storm looks set to intensify. 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.
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A snow and ice warning for the south of England is in effect from 6pm on Saturday, for Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Rutland, Buckinghamshire, Cheshire, Manchester, Oxfordshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Yorkshire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and the West Midlands.
A second amber weather warning is also in place for snow and ice from 6pm tomorrow until midday on Sunday. It said: “Travel delays on roads are likely, stranding some vehicles and passengers. Some road closures and longer journey times possible.”
The Met Office added: “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. Untreated pavements and cycle paths likely to be impassable.”