Key events
Winds of up to 68mph recorded on Saturday and 13cm snow falls in parts of UK, say Met Office
Storm Bert is battering the UK with strong winds, heavy rain and snow and ice with amber warnings coming into force bringing a “potential risk to life and property”.
Travel is widely disrupted with roads closed and some train routes cancelled throughout Saturday with rail companies urging passengers to avoid travelling to certain areas.
Winds of up to 68mph have been recorded and 13cm of snow has fallen in some parts of the country on Saturday morning, a Met Office spokesperson said, reports the PA news agency.
National Highways has issued a “severe weather alert” for snow affecting Yorkshire and north-east England with “blizzard conditions” expected and up to five hours of heavy snow set to “accumulate quickly at all levels”.
The Met Office has issued an amber warning for snow and ice for parts of Scotland and northern England, with a “good chance some rural communities could be cut off”. Amber warnings mean there is the potential for risk to life and property.
“Travel delays on roads are likely, stranding some vehicles and passengers” the national weather service said.
Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell said the effects of the storm would continue throughout the weekend. “We expect the worst of the snow to pass by 12pm in Yorkshire but there will be some heavy rain and travelling conditions throughout the day will be pretty poor,” he said.
He told the PA news agency there was 13cm of snow measured in Leek in Staffordshire on Saturday morning and 68mph winds in Brixham, Devon.
“As milder weather comes in snow will melt, leading to pretty hazardous conditions,” Snell said.
The PA news agency has some more travel disruption updates:
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The M48 Severn Bridge in Gloucestershire is closed in both directions between J1 and J2 due to strong winds and National Highways has advised motorists to use the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge.
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Avanti West Coast, which runs the west coast mainline services, has cancelled its services north of Preston all day.
Weather warnings and 16 flood alerts come into effect across the UK
Weather warnings and 16 flood alerts have come into effect across the UK. Here are all the details we have so far on them, via the PA news agency:
Yorkshire and northern England
National Highways issued a “severe weather alert” for snow affecting Yorkshire and north-east England between 5am and 3pm on Saturday.
A second amber warning will be in place between 7am and midday on Saturday covering parts of Yorkshire and the north-east of England.
Rain and snow warnings cover northern England from 4am to 9am on Saturday.
Scotland
An amber alert for heavy snow and ice is in force between 7am and 5pm on Saturday in areas across Scotland, where 10-20cm is likely on ground above 200 metres and as much as 20-40cm on hills above 400 metres.
The weather warning covers parts of Angus, Perth and Kinross, Stirlingshire, Aberdeenshire and some of the Highlands, Argyll and Bute, the Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. Perth and Kinross council cancelled its annual Perth Christmas lights switch-on event over safety and travel concerns.
Wind warnings cover Scotland from 5am until 7pm on Saturday.
Wales and the south-west of England
Over the weekend, Wales and the south-west of England are at risk of seeing 75mm of rain widely, and more than 100mm over the higher parts of south Wales and Dartmoor.
Strong winds are expected to strike the southern coast with gusts of more than 70mph in places. A wind warning covers coastal areas of southern England from 3pm until 9pm on Saturday.
Rain warnings cover much of Wales from 6am on Saturday until 6am on Sunday, and south-west England from 6am on Saturday until 11.45pm.
Northern Ireland
Rain and snow warnings cover Northern Ireland from midnight on Friday until 11am on Saturday.
Elsewhere
Yellow wind, rain and snow warnings cover much of the rest of the UK on Saturday and into Sunday.
Met Office meteorologist, Aidan McGivern, said Storm Bert’s arrival was after a “relatively quiet” night on Friday with temperatures at around -4C across parts of Scotland and -1C in eastern England.
Roads, rail and ferries hit by Storm Bert travel disruptions
Storm Bert has begun to make an impact in the UK with snow closing roads and strong rains and winds expected to cause further travel disruption and potential flooding.
Here are some of the travel disruptions reported so far by the PA news agency:
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In Scotland, there will be speed restrictions on the West Highland Line, Highland Mainline, Stranraer line, Glasgow South western Line, Far North Line, and west coast mainline between Carstairs and the border.
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ScotRail has withdrawn services from Inverness to Elgin, Aberdeen to Inverurie, and Glasgow Queen Street to Oban while trains from Glasgow Central to Carlisle will terminate at Dumfries.
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CalMac – a ferry operator which serves the west coast of Scotland – has cancelled several sailings on Saturday with disruption expected on many other services.
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P&O Ferries said it had cancelled the 4am sailing between Larne in Northern Ireland and Cairnryan in Scotland’s south west on Saturday.
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South Western Rail (SWR) asked passengers to only travel west of Basingstoke if their journeys are essential.
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SWR announced services between Exeter and London Waterloo will start and finish at Basingstoke, that journey times will be longer between Salisbury and Exeter and between Bournemouth and Weymouth due to speed restrictions, and services across its network will start later than usual on Sunday and Monday because of safety inspections.
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TransPennine Express “strongly” urged customers not to travel north of Carlisle on Saturday while Avanti West Coast advised passengers not to travel north of Preston – including Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith, Carlisle, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
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National Highways issued a “severe weather alert” for snow affecting Yorkshire and north-east England between 5am and 3pm on Saturday.
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In Yorkshire, the A628 remained closed overnight in both directions between the A616 Hollingworth and the A57 Flouch due to snow, National Highways announced.
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The A66 Trans-Pennine route was closed between the A6 and the M6 (J40).
UK airports are not anticipating disruption. A spokesperson for Birmingham airport said:
“Whilst we are not anticipating disruption at this time … we will continue to keep a close eye on the situation, as Storm Bert moves in.”
Manchester airport said “we’re expecting bad weather but aren’t anticipating any disruption” while Newcastle airport said it will be operating as normal overnight with teams “fully prepared to respond should conditions deteriorate”.
Met Office warn of ‘multiple hazard event’ as Storm Bert to bring snow, ice, heavy rain and strong winds to the UK
New national severe weather warnings have been issued for the weekend by the Met Office as Storm Bert has begun to make an impact with snow closing roads and strong rains and winds expected to cause further travel disruption and potential flooding.
Weather warnings and 16 flood alerts have come into effect across the UK, as the Met Office described the forecasted weather as a “multiple hazard event” due to Storm Bert binging with it snow, ice, heavy rain and gale force winds.
Met Office meteorologist, Aidan McGivern, said:
We’ll see two to four hours of heavy snow across parts of northern England and Scotland during Saturday morning. This snow will accumulate thick and fast, with five to 10cm at lower levels and as much as 20 to 40cm over hills accompanied by strong winds.
You can expect blizzards over hills across northern England and Scotland, atrocious conditions for travelling and going over the hills and also the risk of power interruptions because of snow build up on power lines.
So all in all, a multiple hazard event as we go into Saturday morning.”
The PA news agency reports that rail companies urged passengers to avoid travelling to certain areas and some warned of reduced services while National Highways issued a “severe weather alert” for snow affecting Yorkshire and north-east England between 5am and 3pm on Saturday.
In Yorkshire, the A628 remained closed overnight in both directions, while ferry operator CalMac – which serves the west coast of Scotland – has cancelled several sailings on Saturday with disruption expected on many other services.
McGivern also stressed that temperatures will rise quickly as the storm brings with it milder air from the Atlantic, resulting in a “rapid thaw” by the afternoon.
The meteorologist said:
The melting snow and the heavy rain could lead to localised flooding in places but the wettest spots would be Wales, in the south-west, particularly over south-facing hills, that’s where we’re likely to see gales and certainly the risk of impacts from wind as well as from rain.”
