The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for ice across London on Thursday after a spell of snow hit parts of the capital, with temperatures plunging well below freezing overnight.
Footage from East Finchley showed snow falling in the area on Wednesday evening, with locals sharing clips of the snowy scenes outside the Phoenix Cinema. However, other parts of London reported heavy sleet and rain instead of snow. BBC Weather has warned that temperatures in the capital could drop as low as -3°C during the night, with daytime highs unlikely to exceed 3°C, keeping conditions cold throughout the day.
The icy conditions prompted the Met Office to issue a warning that stretches across London, southern England, Wales, and the South West, effective until 10:30 am on Thursday. It cautioned that untreated roads, pavements, and cycle paths would be slippery, raising the risk of accidents and injuries. Pedestrians and drivers are urged to remain vigilant as ice and frost create hazardous travel conditions.
Thursday night is forecasted to be the coldest of the year so far for many parts of the country, with London seeing temperatures plummet to -3°C. The wintry weather is expected to persist over the weekend, and the Met Office has issued multiple weather warnings, including snow, ice, and fog alerts, as the UK braces for more freezing conditions.
Across the rest of the country, the weather has caused significant disruption. Snow and sleet on Wednesday led to chaos in Devon and Cornwall, with roads closed and some motorists stuck in traffic for hours. Snow ploughs were deployed to clear routes in the area, though they too became stranded in traffic queues caused by minor incidents. Police and highways authorities have been working through the night to reopen key routes, though disruption persists.
In Scotland, temperatures dropped to a bone-chilling -12°C at Tulloch Bridge overnight, with much of England and Wales also experiencing sub-zero temperatures. The Met Office has warned that Thursday night could see temperatures plummet to -16°C in certain areas, particularly in the North and Midlands. This marks a sharp contrast to the previous few days, which saw widespread flooding caused by snowmelt and heavy rainfall.
Disruptions from the weather have been far-reaching. Several major airports, including Manchester, Bristol, Liverpool John Lennon, and Aberdeen, were forced to pause or delay flights on Wednesday due to icy runways. The poor conditions also caused significant flooding on roads, including the A1 in Lincolnshire and the A628 in South Yorkshire. Train services across the Midlands and North of England were also impacted, and hundreds of schools were closed due to the hazardous weather.
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The Environment Agency has reported that at least 300 properties have flooded since New Year’s Eve, with more warnings in effect across the country. Snowmelt, compounded by heavy rainfall earlier in the year, has caused additional disruption in the Midlands and the North West of England, with major rivers overflowing their banks. On Tuesday, over 100 flood warnings were issued, and people were urged to stay alert.
A danger-to-life warning was issued for the River Soar near Barrow upon Soar in Leicestershire, with large-scale evacuations carried out to prevent fatalities. Firefighters have rescued dozens of people from flooded homes, particularly in areas such as Belton Road in Loughborough, where residents were trapped in their homes by rising floodwaters from the nearby Grand Union canal.
In areas still covered by snow, temperatures could dip as low as -16°C on Wednesday night, with conditions expected to remain bitterly cold through Thursday. The Pennines could see temperatures as low as -20°C, marking a significant chill across the country. The last time the UK recorded temperatures below -20°C was in February 2021, when Braemar in Aberdeenshire saw -23°C.
With such extreme weather affecting large parts of the country, residents are advised to stay safe, prepare for ongoing cold conditions, and heed the warnings issued by the Met Office and Environment Agency.
