Three-day snow warning as temperatures set to plunge

A three-day snow warning has been issued for much of Britain, with temperatures set to plunge this weekend - bringing misery to areas already hit by flooding in the wake of high winds and torrential rain.

- JOE MIDDLETON

Britain began the new year with weather alerts in place across large swathes of the country, including more than 170 flood warnings in England, Scotland and Wales.

A yellow warning is in place for noon on Saturday until 9am on Monday and covers all regions of England except the South West, the majority of Wales and parts of southern Scotland.

Around 5cm of snow is expected across the Midlands, Wales and northern England, with as much as 20-30cm over high ground in Wales and/or the Pennines, the Met Office said.

Greater Manchester Police said a major incident was declared after widespread flooding in the area caused by heavy rain overnight, with the worst affected areas in Bolton, Didsbury, Harpurhey, Stalybridge, Stockport and Wigan. Mountain rescue teams were deployed to help Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service deal with damaged properties and stranded vehicles.

Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said: “At the moment we’ve issued a very large snow warning for Saturday until Monday but it doesn’t mean that everywhere within that warning could see snow, it’s just a heads-up there could be some impacts.

“It’s definitely going to start off as snow in many places but it’s a question of how quickly that snow melts and turns back to rain.