Warnings upgraded as Storm Christoph moves in
Weather warnings have been upgraded as Storm Christoph threatens to bring challenging conditions to some parts of the country.
Forecasters say rain will increasingly turn to snow today and may bring disruption in southern Scotland, while there are warnings of snow and ice in the north. The Met Office upgraded a warning of snow from yellow to amber last night for southwest Scotland, Lothian, the Borders and South Lanarkshire, forecasting that heavy snowwoulddevelopovernight and into today and is likely to bring travel disruption. The alert, valid until 8am today, says 5-10cm of snow is likely to accumulate across most of the warning area, with 10-20cm above 200m elevation and perhaps around 30cm above 400m. Yellow weather warnings of snow for Strathclyde and Dumfries and Galloway are in force until 10am today. A yellow warning of snow and ice was in place for Grampian and the Highlands until midnight last night. The Met Office has also issued a yellow weather warning of heavy rain for Grampian, the Highlands and Orkney and Shetland which is valid from midnight last night until midday tomorrow . Itstates:"persistent,heavyrain associated with Storm Christoph is expected to affect the north and north-east of mainland Scotland as well as Orkney early on Thursday before slowly pulling away on Friday." Forecasters warn the heavy rain is expected to cause some travel disruption and possible flooding today and tomorrow morning. Authorities have reminded people they should only travel for essential reasons under current coronavirus restrictions, and to take care if they do have to go out. Nithsdale police in southern Scotland tweeted: "Remember there are #weather warnings in place for today due to #Stormchristoph. "Please #staysafe & due to #covid19 you should only leave home for essential journeys." Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said: "The Met Office is telling us that Storm Christoph is likely to bring another period of challenging weather to parts of Scotland over the next few days, particularly in the north and north-east of Scotland.
"Thecurrentcovidrestrictions mean you should only be leaving your home for an essential purpose, so please consider if your journey is absolutely necessary before setting off. "The forecast snow has potential to cause difficult driving conditions and disruption to the wider transport network, so if you have to make an
essential journey during the warning period it's important you plan your journey, drive to the conditions and follow Police Scotland travel advice." Police Scotland tweeted: "Weather Warning - Travel with Caution. "The @metoffice has issued a yellow weather warning for snow across parts of Scotland
from Wednesday through to midday on Thursday." Some parts of the UK could see two months' worth of average rainfall in just two-anda-half days as Storm Christoph moves in, with England expected to bear the brunt of the bad weather.