Weather warning as Arctic blast brings coldest night of winter
An amber alert is among the widespread weather warnings for snow and ice issued across the UK, following the coldest night of the winter so far.
The mercury fell to -14C in Dalwhinnie in the Highlands ontuesdaynight,accordingto provisional recordings by the Met Office, the lowest January temperature in Britain since 2019.
The Met Office has issued amber warnings for snow between 3pm yesterday and 6pm today in north-west Scotland and the Northern Isles, meaning road delays are likely and some vehicles could be stranded.
Hundreds of schools were shut in Scotland yesterday amid the wintry weather and motorists were advised to drive with care due to “tricky” conditions. All council schools and nurseries in Shetland and Orkney were shut, while 280 were closed in the Highlands and about 90 in Aberdeenshire.
The Met Office amber warningforecastssomeareascould see an extra 15cm-20cm of snow, meaning power cuts are likely and more remote communities are at risk of being cut off.
Parts of western and northern Scotland, northeast and eastern England, Wales and Northern Ireland are affected by a snow and ice warning for today.
Chief Superintendent Hilary Sloan, Police Scotland’s head of road policing, said: “Our advice is to plan ahead and consider if your journey is really necessary during this latest spell of severe weather or if it can be delayed until conditions improve.” Scotland’s transport minister, Fiona Hyslop, said winter resilience plans have been in full effect and urged people to plan ahead if travelling.
She said: “Police Scotland is warning of a high risk of disruption for the parts of the country covered by the amber warning, but yellow warnings can also be impactful and cause delays.” Tuesday night did mark the coldest night this winter so far, beating the -12.5C daily minimum temperature recorded at Altnaharra in the Highlands on December 3.
Freezing temperatures and snowwillcontinueformuchof Britain this week due to a blast of Arctic air, before “potentially disruptive” stormy weather lands over the weekend.
A “cold plunge of Arctic air” has moved south across the whole country over the past few days, making it 5C to 6C lower than usual for this time of year, the Met Office said.
The forecaster has said more than 40cm of snow may fall on high ground in north-west Scotland by the end of Friday.
Meanwhile, lower ground in north-west Scotland could see between 5cm and 10cm of snow by the end of the working week.
Met Office chief meteorologist Jason Kelly said: “With deep snow already lying on the ground for many in Scotland, we’re going to see a significant topping up of totals over the next couple of days, especially for those in the north of Scotland.
“Strengthening north-westerly winds will also cause some lying snow to drift, potentially bringing some additional hazards, such as temporary blizzard conditions.”
The weather is forecast to turn stormy on Sunday.