UK weather forecast: no end yet to big freeze
The worst of the snow appears to be over but the “big icy mess” will last another week. Channel 4 News Correspondent Darshna Soni has been out with police in remote parts of snow-hit South Yorkshire.
Britain will continue to shiver in icy conditions for at least another week, although UK weather forcecasts show the heaviest snowfall is now behind us.
Temperatures plummeted to as low as -10C in the south east of England last night, bringing an end to a week of major commuter disruption and school closures.
‘Big icy mess’
MeteoGroup have described the UK as a “big icy mess” and rain could make Britain’s frozen roads and pavements even more dangerous in the next 24 hours.
“It’s going to be really cold into the next 10 days,” added forecaster Aisling Creevey.
Rail services are slowly recovering after the bitter weather caused widespread disruptions and cancellations.
Operators East Coast, Southern, first Great Western, South West, South Eastern, and First TransPennine Express were still experiencing delays, while Eurostar said it would be operating a reduced timetable until Sunday.
Major airports are operating but many passengers are experiencing flight delays.
In England, severe warnings of widespread icy roads remain in London and the south east, the south west, the east, the Midlands and the north west.
The Met Office issued ice and snow warnings in Wales and Northern Ireland earlier and for the north and north west of Scotland.
The RAC said that, after receiving nearly 15,000 calls on Friday and nearly 140,000 since the start of the bad weather, it has been relatively calm today.
Wales was reported to be the busiest area due to icy roads.
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has temporarily relaxed restrictions on truckers’ working hours.
The nine-hour daily driving limit was raised to 10 hours for HGVs to help vital supplies of fuel, food and gritting salt be delivered.
Snow deaths and injuries
The death toll linked to Britain’s big freeze has risen to seven. Two men were killed in a crash on the M62 in Humberside and another driver who stopped to help a stranded motorist in the Yorkshire Dales died after being hit by another vehicle.
In Glasgow 14-year-old Samantha Kinghorn is in a “serious but stable” condition with spinal injuries after being airlifted to hospital from her Berwickshire home. She had been clearing a path outside her home near Gordon when she was hit by a mass of falling snow and ice from the roof of the building.