Heavy overnight snow batters East Midlands, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
We've been hit by an Arctic blast, bringing snow, freezing rain, and ice that's affected travel and caused power cuts
Last updated 5th Jan 2025
Heavy overnight snow is causing disruption across the East Midlands, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire as the cold start to the new year continues.
Widespread disruption is affecting transport - with all flights suspended at Manchester and Liverpool.
East Midlands seems to be OK - there's a bit of disruption in Leeds - and some services were diverted to Nottingham from Bristol last night - after the runway shut for a short time.
Read more: Bristol Airport reopens amid delay warnings
The message from EMA is to check before travelling - and stay alert to any weather updates.
Two amber weather warnings from the Met Office have been put in place in England and Wales, with 3cm to 7cm of snowfall predicted for much of the affected area, mixing with rain at times in lower-lying areas.
The Met Office said Bingley, West Yorkshire, had seen 12cm of snow up to 7am on Sunday, with Shap in Cumbria and Capel Curig, Gwynedd, both seeing 10cm.
One amber warning for snow and freezing rain, which covers much of Wales and the Midlands as far north as Manchester, is in place until midday on Sunday.
Higher ground in Wales and the southern Pennines could see 15cm to 30cm of snow, the forecaster said, with milder air leading to a rapid thaw in the south of the warning area through Sunday.
The second amber warning for snow, covering most of northern England including Leeds, Sheffield and the Lake District, is in place until midnight on Sunday.
The Met Office said some rural communities could be cut off, with up to 40cm of snow on ground above 300m before conditions ease later on Sunday.
National Highways warned up to 25cm of snow could hit roads in northern England, including the A628 Woodhead Pass, which connects Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire through the Peak District and was closed overnight in both directions between the A616 at Flouch and the A57 at Hollingworth, because of snow.
National Rail said the line between Leeds and Halifax via Dewbury was closed in both directions, with disruption on northern routes expected into Monday.
As well as snow, National Highways warned rain may initially fall on frozen ground and lead to ice, with areas of high ground.
The National Grid said it had been working to restore power after outages across the Midlands, south-west England and South Wales on Saturday.
The company's live map shows power cuts across the region on Sunday morning, including in Lincoln and Derby - with Northern Power Grid also confirming a handful of outages in East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire.
As well as the amber warnings, the Met Office has issued yellow warnings covering almost the entire country across the weekend.
A yellow warning for snow and ice covers most of the remaining parts of England and Wales until midnight, while a similar warning covers large parts of Northern Ireland from 6pm on Sunday.
UK Health Security Agency cold weather health alerts for all of England remain in place ahead of a week of low temperatures.
Amber alerts were issued on Thursday and will run until Wednesday, meaning a rise in deaths is likely, the agency said.
Councils - like Lincolnshire's - have activated emergency measures including additional accommodation to help rough sleepers stay safe during the cold snap.
The Met Office forecast the sleet and snow will continue to push north on Sunday and be heaviest in northern England and into southern Scotland.
After experiencing freezing rain for a time, the south will turn milder.
Frost and icy patches will continue through the early part of the week, but Monday and Tuesday will become drier with sunny spells and scattered wintry showers. Wednesday will be cloudier with hazy sunshine.
Wintry showers are possible in the south early on Thursday before Friday becomes more settled ahead of a cloud and rain in the west before largely settled conditions from next weekend.