Met Office issues severe weather warnings after snow hits Gloucestershire and UK cold snap bites

The cold weather and the risk of ice has prompted the Met Office to issue a severe weather warning for the whole of Gloucestershire. The yellow alert for ice runs from 5pm today (Tuesday, November 19) until 10am tomorrow and comes after snow fell in the county today and as gritters prepare to take to the roads amid plunging temperatures.

A separate warning for snow and ice has also been issued for parts of Herefordshire and Wales until 11.59pm today (Tuesday, November 19), with the warning zone stopping just to the west of Ross-on-Wye and Monmouth. No snow at the moment is forecast for Gloucestershire.

Snow fell throughout the morning and into the afternoon in large parts of Gloucestershire. There were winter wonderland scenes as the white stuff fell.

Luckily, there were no major traffic related incidents in the wintry weather. By late afternoon, while temperature remained very cold, much of the snow had gone - although it remained visible on higher ground, including Leckhampton Hill near Cheltenham.

READ MORE: Snow pictures as Gloucestershire wakes to winter wonderland scenes

The Met Office said that icy patches are likely to form this evening and into tomorrow. It says there could be some injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces.

It added: "Rain, sleet and snow will continue to clear southwards across England and Wales with clearing skies to follow. Temperatures are expected to fall below or close to freezing quite widely across the warning area with icy patches forming on untreated freezing surfaces."

Snowy conditions have forced the closure of more than 200 schools in the UK, as fresh weather warnings were issued amid widespread travel disruption. The Met Office has put in place several warnings for snow and ice across the UK for Tuesday and Wednesday, advising that vehicles could be stranded, power cuts may occur and rural areas could be cut off.

By Tuesday afternoon, around 140 school closures had been reported in Wales, with around 50 in the West Midlands and 20 in Derbyshire. Monday night saw sub-zero temperatures for much of the UK, reaching as low as -11.2C at Braemar in Aberdeenshire.

Snowfall was also widely reported, with 12cm of lying snow recorded at Watnall, Nottinghamshire on Tuesday morning as an Arctic airmass influenced the UK’s weather. Thousands of train passengers suffered disruption due to the weather on Tuesday morning.

By 11am on Tuesday, some 64 out of a total of 120 services planned by East Midlands Railway were cancelled or delayed by at least half an hour, according to the trains.im punctuality and reliability website. A Stagecoach bus in Aberdeenshire toppled onto its side with a passenger on board in icy conditions on Tuesday morning in the New Leeds area.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued the first amber cold weather health alert of the season, warning conditions could be dangerous for vulnerable people, including the elderly. The amber warning covers the east and north of England, the Midlands, and Yorkshire and the Humber, with yellow alerts coming into place for the South East, South West and London until 6pm on Saturday.

Met Office Chief Meteorologist Neil Armstrong said: “With cold Arctic air firmly in place over the UK, continued winter hazards are likely through much of this week, with further updates to warnings likely in the coming days. The current focus for upcoming snow and ice risk is from later on Tuesday and overnight into Wednesday, with snow showers likely moving in off windward coasts in the north and east, as well as drifting into parts of Northern Ireland and Wales.

“In excess of 10cm of snow is possible over higher ground within the warning areas, with 1-2cm possibly settling at lower levels, which has the potential to lead to some travel disruption. Ice is an additional hazard and is likely to form quickly on untreated surfaces.”

The Met Office, which described the conditions as “the first taste of winter”, has issued a yellow warning for snow and ice along the east coast of Scotland and England from Berwickshire to Suffolk from 6pm on Tuesday to midday on Wednesday. A yellow warning for snow and ice covering Northern Ireland has also been issued from 6pm on Tuesday to 10am on Wednesday.

There are also warnings in place covering the north of Scotland until 10am on Wednesday and much of central and South Wales until 11.59pm on Tuesday. A separate warning for much of central and north Wales is in place from midnight until midday on Wednesday.

The Met Office said cold northerly winds will continue through the week across much of the UK, with further warnings likely. It added that temperatures were likely to increase from the southwest this weekend, though this will be accompanied by some strong winds and heavy rain.