UK BIG FREEZE: Flights cancelled as Met Office forecasts more SNOW to bombard Britain
FLIGHTS were cancelled in Britain amid the snow chaos on Monday and the country is set to be hit by more white stuff this week as the freezing wintry conditions sweep across Britain.
Weather latest: UK set for snow chaos as temperatures plummet
Weather forecasters have warned that the bitter weather is expected to grip Britain for the remainder of this week and could even stay until next week.
The bone-chilling temperatures nearly fell to below -15C last night as the UK faced the coldest night in six years and parts of Britain were blanketed in snow.
Airliner British Airways was forced to cancel around 80 short-haul flights to and from Heathrow, including three south trips to Aberdeen and Milan’s Linate airport.
A statement read: “Due to forecast snow and ice across many parts of the UK today, we have proactively made some adjustments to our short-haul schedules.
“During cold weather conditions aircraft have to be de-iced prior to departure to ensure that they are safe and additional measures are taken to ensure the safety of our operation is maintained at all times.
“We are sorry for any disruption to our customers’ travel plans and will do all we can to minimise the effect the weather has on our operations.”
Around 10,000 customers had to be rebooked onto other services as the snow on Monday covered parts of Kent, Essex and Suffolk.
The Met Office still has a yellow weather warning in place for snow and ice for regions across the UK as meteorologist Alex Deakin forecast more snow and ice.
He said: “We have seen snow through the night for much of Scotland the bands of wet weather has pulled away from here now but still some snow showers into the north and the west.
“A little bit of snow too for parts of Northern Ireland, now we have got this wet weather sitting over parts of northern England, so still some falling snow here. Not very pleasant on some of the roads, a covering of snow is possible.
“This band of wet weather is actually going to be fizzling out over the next few hours.
“There are warnings in force through for snow and as I said it could be icy almost anywhere with temperatures around or below freezing for most of us.”
The Met Office meteorologist also warned that parts of west and south-west England could still see some more snow and sleet as the day develops.
Map shows rain set to turn to snow as temperatures PLUMMET
Still some falling snow here. Not very pleasant on some of the roads
The east of England was also warned they could face some snow this evening as well.
A BBC Weather warning, issued on behalf of the Met Office is in place until Wednesday at 10am, for Northern Ireland, western parts of Scotland, Wales and England, for snow and ice.
It reads: “Sleet, snow and hail showers, some heavy, will affect western areas through Tuesday, with icy stretches forming overnight.
“This update extends the warning area slightly further east and also points to a reduced likelihood of medium impacts occurring. Some transport disruption is possible, with longer journey times and delays to public transport.
“Icy patches are likely to develop on some untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths, leading to an increased risk of injuries and accidents.
“Further showers of snow, sleet and hail will affect western parts of the UK, these frequent in western Scotland and the north of Northern Ireland, where thunder is also possible. 1-3 cm of snow may accumulate at low levels inland, and perhaps 5-10 cm on hills above 200m.
“Showers will gradually fade overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, with icy stretches developing as skies clear, particularly where earlier snow has partly melted. As is usually the case with showers, some places will miss them, while some coastal fringes may see rain or hail.”
Public Health England (PHE) with the Met Office has issued a level-3 cold weather health alert across England until Friday.
It states: “Cold weather has now set in, with brisk northeasterly winds in the south. There is now high confidence for a period of cold weather this week, raising the alert to level-3 for all areas.”
Elderly and vulnerable people have been urged to take care in the freezing temperatures.
James Madden, a forecaster for Exacta Weather, said thermometers across the UK are expected to stay low over the next few nights.
He said: “Throughout Tuesday evening and the early part of Wednesday we will see a widespread harsh frost with negative temperatures developing across most and if not all parts of the country.
“Our current indications do show that it could dip to as low as -10C in places, however, some even lower temperatures could be recorded in remote locations in the north.”
Bookmaker Coral has also slashed odds on all major cities across the UK to see snowfall before the end of the weekend.
“Anybody who thought spring might come early is sorely mistaken and our odds suggest we are expecting another deluge of snow across the UK this week,” said Coral’s Harry Aitkenhead.