New Year’s Eve snow warning for London as UK temperatures drop

Ondoners should brace for snow and ice on Wednesday as temperatures continue to drop across the country.

The Met Office issued yellow weather alerts for the capital on Wednesday and Thursday, warning that icy conditions could lead to travel delays and cancellations on roads and public transportation.

The warnings are spread over parts of southern, central and eastern England, as well as Wales, with the forecaster predicting up to 5cm of snow in parts of the south, with a slim chance of 10-15cm settling in isolated areas.

However, forecaster Simon Partridge told the Standard that the streets of London were unlikely to host snowball fights before Wednesday night, as Tuesday will be “cold but dry” in most of the southeast.

“We may see some rain in the afternoon, but it’s likely rain or hail, not snow,” Partridge said.

“Temperatures will not rise much above 5 ° C or 6 ° C,” he added. “But when you think that the average refrigerator temperature is around 4 ° C, you get the idea.”

He added that icy conditions were more likely to occur Wednesday night, meaning city residents could wake up to snowy scenes on New Year’s Eve.

In other parts of the country, drivers were urged to stay off the roads as heavy snow fell in parts on Monday and temperatures are forecast to drop to -10 ° C in western Scotland.

The Met Office issued a yellow snow and ice warning for much of England and Wales and parts of Scotland until 10 a.m. Tuesday morning.

The national forecaster said nighttime temperatures “would drop towards freezing, perhaps dropping as low as -10 ° C in western Scotland where there is a layer of snow.”

Dangerous conditions were also forecast if snowmelt turns to ice overnight, according to the AA, which warned drivers to be prepared if they had to make trips.

Forecasters said another 10 centimeters of snow could fall on the Pennines and more winter rains are expected.

The British could also wake up to patches of icy fog, which will take time to clear.

AA’s Ben Sheridan said: “Snow thawing, rain and freezing temperatures overnight lead to difficult driving conditions, and roads are likely to be icy in the morning.”

But the AA added regional restrictions that have been imposed due to Covid-19, which means that the roads are quieter than normal.

Yellow weather alerts for snow and ice were posted over much of England and Wales during the ‘cold and icy’ start of the holiday Monday.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council dispatched snowplows to help clear the routes after the expected light gusts resulted in three inches of snow falling.

Heavy snowfall prompted Gloucestershire Police to warn the public to beware and “only go outside if essential”.

The force tweeted: “Heavy snow is beginning to fall in rural areas of the county. This will cause delays on the roads. “

There were multiple reports of snow across the county causing disruptions, hindering people in the Forest of Dean and the A417 around Birdlip.

Staffordshire Police also warned of a “serious disruption”, with several roads in the area impassable.

A large number of vehicles had been stranded, South Staffordshire police said.

In the West Midlands, the Dudley Zoo said it would be closed on Monday due to snow.

Cold conditions saw temperatures drop to -2.9 ° C at Aboyne in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on Sunday, while St Mary’s, near the Cornish coast, had the maximum temperature of 8.5 ° C.

It comes after days of wintry weather over the Christmas period that caused flooding in parts of southern England before Storm Bella hit on Boxing Day with winds of over 100 mph.

Flooding was also reported in parts of eastern England on Sunday morning, with kayakers taking to the roads in Norfolk in an attempt to traverse flooded streets.

Despite poor conditions, the gales meant that, for the first time, more than half of Britain’s electricity was generated by wind power on Saturday.

According to the Drax energy company, 50.67 percent of the country’s energy was produced by wind turbines on Boxing Day.