Fresh snow brings disruption fears

Feb 10 2013

A burst of snow is likely to cover much of Britain, prompting ice and disruption fears.

The covering of up to 6cm (2.4ins) in some areas will affect Scotland down to London, with only south-west England, south-west Wales and Northern Ireland escaping.

The snow is expected to begin on Sunday afternoon, and experts said while it was difficult to predict how much would fall, it had the potential to be significant.

Nick Prebble, a forecaster for MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "A band of light rain will move from the south-west in a north-eat direction over north England and west Scotland.

"This will linger before turning to quite a significant fall of snow in the early evening, pretty much everywhere will get a couple of cms of snow, and up to six cms on higher ground, including the Pennines and Scottish mountains.

"The south-west of England, south-west of Wales and Northern Ireland will be the only areas to miss the snow. There is the potential for more heavier snow, but it is going to be quite disruptive anyway."

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning of snow, ice and rain for north-east Scotland down to south-east England, east Wales and Northern Ireland. It warned of a danger of ice on roads and surfaces after the snow fall.

"Rain, sleet and snow will die away from Northern England and parts of Scotland on Sunday night, leaving a legacy of icy stretches on paved surfaces for Monday morning," it said.

The snow is expected to stop falling by Monday morning, but the accumulations could still cause disruption for commuters. More light snow flurries are predicted for Monday and Tuesday, after which the week is expected to turn milder.

Meanwhile, thousands of passengers have been stranded in America after flights to Britain were grounded after a massive snowstorm hit the US east coast. It dumped more than three feet of snow from Massachusetts to New Jersey, while hurricane-force winds battered the eastern states and up into Canada, killing at least eight people.