UK weather: Major incidents declared as UK grapples with floods, snow and ice

Flood warnings have been issued in elements of England, as wintry circumstances proceed to trigger journey delays and faculty closures throughout the UK.

Main incidents have been declared in Lincolnshire and Leicester over flooding attributable to heavy rains.

Yellow climate warnings for snow and ice have been issued in Northern Eire, elements of Scotland and Wales and areas of northwest and southwest England till Tuesday morning.

Journey disruption attributable to the chilly and moist climate continued into Monday, with roads, railways and airports all affected.

A Met Workplace warning for snow and ice throughout massive elements of Scotland got here into pressure at 16:00 and can final till noon on Tuesday.

In Northern Eire, a yellow alert for snow and ice warning will likely be in place till 11:00 on Tuesday.

A yellow alert for snow and ice throughout Wales and elements of northwest and southwest England took impact at 17:00 on Monday, lasting till 10:00 on Tuesday.

As of Monday afternoon, there have been 176 flood warnings, which means flooding is anticipated, and 311 flood alerts, which means flooding is feasible, in place throughout England.

In Wales, one flood warning and 13 flood alerts are in place.

A serious incident has been declared in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland attributable to extreme flooding, with properties submerged and folks left trapped of their autos by rising water.

Lincolnshire became the second county to declare a significant incident over flooding.

Emma Hardy, the minister for water and flooding, informed MPs that the nation’s flood defences have been “within the worst situation on file”. She blamed “years of under-investment” beneath the earlier Conservative authorities.

“There are roughly 60,000 properties much less effectively protected than if flood defences have been at an optimum situation,” she mentioned, including the federal government had pledged £2bn within the subsequent two years to “construct and keep” flood defences.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer mentioned his ideas have been with all these affected and thanked “responders working arduous to maintain communities secure”.

The coldest temperature of the UK winter thus far was recorded on Sunday night time, when the mercury hit -13.3C (8F) in Loch Glascarnoch in Scotland.

On Monday morning, snowy circumstances compelled colleges throughout north-east Scotland and northern England to shut on the primary day again after the Christmas holidays.

Energy needed to be restored to 1000’s of properties and companies within the north-east of England following outages attributable to the chilly snap, in accordance with community operator Northern Powergrid.

Roads throughout the UK have been impacted by the climate. Intensive flooding in Gloucester compelled the M5 to shut on Monday morning. The M25 in Surrey additionally closed after a lorry toppled over and blocked the carriageway.

Railway traces throughout the UK have been affected by flooding, whereas Manchester Airport was once more compelled to close two runways after heavy snow.

Tonight the climate will really feel quieter, as the realm of low strain which introduced snow and rain this morning has cleared eastwards but it surely leaves behind it some very chilly air and a few wintry showers.

There will likely be a widespread frost with temperatures dropping broadly under freezing and the danger of ice nearly all over the place.

There will likely be frost not simply throughout the warning areas but additionally additional east, the place there was snowmelt and the bottom remains to be moist from current rain.

Numerous warnings are in pressure for snow and ice issued by the Met Workplace.

There will likely be additional wintry showers blowing in on a north-westerly wind by the night and in a single day interval. These showers may very well be frequent and fall as sleet or snow particularly over the excessive floor the place there may very well be some accumulations.

In northern and western Scotland, wintry showers with accumulations of 5-10cm over 200m are anticipated.

There will likely be additional sporadic wintry showers in the identical type of areas tomorrow however for a lot of it will likely be dry with some sunshine however simply very chilly with temperatures no increased than mid-single figures.

There’s a separate warning in place for potential snow throughout southern counties of England on Wednesday legitimate from 09:00 till midnight which may very well be disruptive and produce as a lot as 2-5cm of snow pretty broadly.

Nonetheless, the forecast for this stays unsure.

The world has warmed by greater than 1C because the pre-industrial period. UK winters are altering in consequence.

Whereas the local weather continues to heat total we’ll nonetheless see short-term extremes of each cold and hot climate – however chilly extremes are prone to turn out to be fewer and additional between.

Local weather change will convey us extra rain. A hotter ambiance is ready to maintain extra moisture so extra intense rainfall is anticipated to turn out to be an growing function of UK winters, together with a better threat of flooding.