Large swathes of the UK were struck by heavy snowfall yesterday, causing travel problems for motorists and rail users – with forecasters warning the worst is yet to come.
Some 15 centimetres of snow fell on high ground yesterday, according to MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association.
The weather has already led to more than 20 motorists needing to be rescued by the AA from cars that had become stuck and led one rail operator to introduce a speed restriction and cancel services.
Large parts of England were hit by snow yesterday morning.
The Met Office issued an amber weather warning for snow focused on the East Midlands, eastern England, the North East and Yorkshire, warning the public to be prepared for the risk of disruption.
The AA said it had attended around 9,000 breakdowns yesterday – including 23 cars stuck in snow, mainly in the Grampians in Scotland, Oxfordshire and the East Midlands.
Rail operator Greater Anglia said routes between London Liverpool Street and Cambridge, Colchester, Ipswich and Norwich would be subject to a 60mph speed limit because of the snow.
Some parts of Norfolk and Lincolnshire could get a second snowfall today as the weather system was spinning out over the North Sea overnight and back towards land again, meteorologists added. The rest of the country is expected to be dry but chilly.
Temperatures in Scotland, the North East and Eastern England will struggle to rise above zero, while London will get to around 3C. The warmest place in the country is Cornwall, with around 8C.
Temperatures are expected to drop further to around minus 8C (17.6F) tomorrow night with the possibility of more light snow flurries. Motorists were warned by the Highways Agency to take extra care yesterday and into the early hours on roads made slippery by snow and sleet in reezing temperatures.
Leicestershire Police took to Twitter to issue a stern warning about snowballing.
“Sledging, snowmen and snowballing? It is only fun for those who want to take part,” it wrote.
“Please don’t throw snowballs at vehicles on the roads, distracting drivers can cause accidents.”
Steve Crosthwaite, head of the National Traffic Operations Centre, said: “We are using salt to treat the road network and have ploughs and snow blowers on standby if necessary. Our traffic officers are working around the clock to monitor our road network, deal with any incidents and keep traffic moving. During severe winter weather we ask drivers to check road conditions and the weather forecast before setting out.
“If conditions are poor, and journeys are not essential, we advise drivers to think about delaying until conditions improve and allowing our winter fleet the chance to treat the roads.”