Havoc as heavy snow sweeps UK

WHITE OUT: Cattle brave the cold weather on the hills near Bakewell, Derbyshire

MUCH of the UK woke up to a blanket of snow yesterday with four inches falling in some places.

The temperature plunged to freezing in many areas and as the wintry downpours continued, there were warnings people could face power cuts and disruption to travel.

An amber alert was in place during the morning for East Anglia, while a yellow snow warning was in place for most of England and Scotland.

There were worries some isolated rural areas would be completely cut off as conditions worsened, with the Met Office urging motorists to accelerate their cars “gently” and to leave a large gap between surrounding vehicles.

Drivers heading towards London faced treacherous conditions as the capital and home counties were particularly badly hit.

One motorist wrote on Twitter: “Horrendous journey into London. Crashed car across carriageway north of Cherwell Services on M40.

FUN: A winter winner in Suffolk

Further south, carriageway surface dangerous with falling snow.”

Norfolk Police said by midday they had received 18 reports of road crashes and were considering fining those involved in collisions if their journeys were not essential.

Meanwhile, three coronavirus test

BITTER: Essex struggles to keep moving after waking to a blanket of snow that brought chaos to roads and services centres in Luton had to close their doors, with the council saying on Twitter it was “for the safety of the public and our staff”.

However, it had them up and running again by the afternoon after angry residents branded the move as “utterly embarrassing”.

Flooding also caused disruption, with 25 warnings and more than 100 flood alerts across England.

On Friday, 700 homes in the Hebden Bridge area of West Yorkshire lost their gas supply after water in the network froze.

Met Officer forecaster Luke Miall said the snow would mostly have melted by today. He said: “A weather front pushing in from the Atlantic has bumped up against the cold weather we have been having across the UK over the last few days, which is a perfect recipe for snow.”

Mr Miall added that there was more rain on the way for this week.

“Things are set to turn much wetter and milder, with attention turning away from snow and back to rain.”