VAST swathes of Britain are under warnings for snow and ice today.
Parts of Scotland will be blanketed by up to eight inches as snow – ahead of Storm Bert’s wrath this weekend, as a danger to life warning has been put in place.
Met OfficeWeather warnings for Friday cover much of the country[/caption]
Met OfficeAn amber warning is also issued for Saturday[/caption]
Met OfficeWarnings continue into Sunday[/caption]
ReutersA car drives through the snow in Aviemore, Scotland, yesterday[/caption]
Airports are also warning passengers to double check their flights are still going ahead – and plan routes carefully.
The storm is set to reach the UK on Saturday and the Met Office is expecting it to bring “heavy rain, strong winds and disruptive snow to parts of the UK through the weekend”, potentially causing travel disruption and flooding.
Last night, the Met Office said much of the UK experienced temperatures near freezing, with the mercury falling as low as -6C at Tulloch Bridge in Scotland.
Many Brits are waking up to a frost with icy surfaces in places with several yellow warnings for snow and ice in place across the UK until 10am.
One covering parts of Scotland is in effect until midday before a slew of further yellow alerts for wind, rain and snow go live tomorrow.
An amber alert for heavy snow and ice will be in force between 7am and 5pm on Saturday in an area north of Scotland’s central belt, where 10-20cm is likely on ground above 200 metres and potentially as much as 20-40cm on hills above 400 metres.
The warning covers parts of Angus, Perth and Kinross, Stirlingshire, Aberdeenshire and some of the Highlands and Argyll and Bute.
Met Office meteorologist Honor Criswick said: “Through into Friday… snow showers are set to continue mainly around coastal areas though once again still a few feeding inland at times.
“There will also still be plenty of autumnal sunshine. Still feeling cold though, particularly in those brisk winds – once again we’re only looking at highs of around 5C, slightly higher in the south west around 7C.
“Across the north those temperatures struggling to move past 2-3C.
“As we head into Friday evening, a change is on its way as we introduce Storm Bert moving its way in from the Atlantic.
“So we’ll see clouds spilling in from the south west with outbreaks of rain – heavy at times by the time we reach Saturday morning.”
Ms Criswick said there are likely to be “heavy” outbreaks of rain throughout Saturday, “falling as snow” at times across northern parts of England and parts of Scotland.
The wintry weather affected education, with more than 114 schools shut in the Highland Council area on Thursday because of snow, including Inverness Royal Academy where pupils were told their prelim exams planned for the day will be rescheduled.
Almost 40 schools in Aberdeenshire were also shut while many others had delayed openings and in Moray around 12 were closed and others opened late.
It comes after more than 100 schools or nurseries were closed in Scotland on Wednesday because of the weather.
South of the border, 89 schools were shut in Devon on Thursday, 18 in Dorset and 60 in Cornwall, while in Wales around 10 were closed in Conwy, 18 in Denbighshire and two in Wrexham.
LNPA dog walker braves blizzard conditions in Buxton last night[/caption]
BNPSHeavy snow falls in Princetown, Dartmoor[/caption]
AlamySnow covers Devon’s county town Exeter, including the Christmas market at the cathedral[/caption]
ReutersThe Inverness to London train makes its way through the Drumochter pass, Scotland, yesterday[/caption]
Areas affected by Met Office weather warnings
Friday
Yellow warning – snow & ice (up to midday)
Grampian
Aberdeenshire
Moray
Highlands & Eilean Siar
Highland
Orkney & Shetland
Orkney Islands
Shetland Islands
Yellow warning – snow & ice (up to 10am)
Central, Tayside & Fife
Angus
Clackmannanshire
Dundee
Falkirk
Fife
Perth and Kinross
Stirling
East Midlands
Derby
Derbyshire
Leicester
Leicestershire
Lincolnshire
Northamptonshire
Nottingham
Nottinghamshire
Rutland
East of England
Bedford
Cambridgeshire
Central Bedfordshire
Essex
Hertfordshire
Luton
Norfolk
Peterborough
Suffolk
Grampian
Aberdeen
Aberdeenshire
Highlands & Eilean
Siar Na h-Eileanan Siar
Highland
London & South East England
Buckinghamshire
Milton Keynes
Oxfordshire
North East England
Durham
Gateshead
Hartlepool
Newcastle upon Tyne
North Tyneside
Northumberland
Redcar and Cleveland
South Tyneside
Stockton-on-Tees
Sunderland
North West England
Blackburn with Darwen
Blackpool
Cheshire East
Cheshire West and Chester
Cumbria
Greater Manchester
Halton
Lancashire
Merseyside
Warrington
SW Scotland, Lothian Borders
Dumfries and Galloway
East Lothian
Edinburgh
Midlothian Council
Scottish Borders
West Lothian
Strathclyde
Argyll and Bute
East Ayrshire
East Dunbartonshire
East Renfrewshire
Glasgow Inverclyde
North Ayrshire
North Lanarkshire
Renfrewshire
South Ayrshire
South Lanarkshire
West Dunbartonshire
Wales
Carmarthenshire
Ceredigion
Conwy
Denbighshire
Flintshire
Gwynedd
Isle of Anglesey
Pembrokeshire
Powys
Wrexham
West Midlands
Herefordshire
Shropshire
Staffordshire
Stoke-on-Trent
Telford and Wrekin
Warwickshire
West Midlands
Conurbation
Worcestershire
Yorkshire & Humber
East Riding of Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
Yellow warning – snow & ice (up to 10am)
Northern Ireland
County Antrim
County Armagh
County Down
County Fermanagh
County Londonderry
County Tyrone
Yellow warning – ice (up to 10am)
London & South East England
Hampshire
Isle of Wight
Portsmouth
Southampton
West Sussex
South West England
Bath and North East Somerset
Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole
Cornwall
Devon
Dorset
North Somerset
Plymouth
Somerset
Torbay
Wiltshire
Saturday
Yellow warning – wind (5am-7pm)
Central, Tayside & Fife
Angus
Fife
Perth and Kinross
Stirling
Grampian
Aberdeen
Aberdeenshire
Moray
Highlands & Eilean Siar
Na h-Eileanan Siar
Highland
North East England
North Tyneside
Northumberland
Redcar and Cleveland
South Tyneside
Sunderland
North West England
Cumbria
Northern Ireland
County Antrim
County Armagh
County Down
County Fermanagh
County Londonderry
County Tyrone
SW Scotland, Lothian Borders
Dumfries and Galloway
East Lothian
Midlothian Council
Scottish Borders
Strathclyde
Argyll and Bute East
Ayrshire East
Renfrewshire
Inverclyde
North Ayrshire
Renfrewshire
South Ayrshire
South Lanarkshire
Wales
Ceredigion
Conwy
Gwynedd
Isle of Anglesey
Pembrokeshire
Yorkshire & Humber
East Riding of Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
Amber warning – snow & ice (7am-5pm)
Central, Tayside & Fife
Angus
Perth and Kinross
Stirling
Grampian
Aberdeenshire
Highlands & Eilean Siar
Highland
Strathclyde
Argyll and Bute
Yellow warning – rain & snow (4am-9am)
Central, Tayside & Fife
Angus
Clackmannanshire
Falkirk
Fife
Perth and Kinross
Stirling
East Midlands
Derby
Derbyshire
Nottingham
Nottinghamshire
Grampian
Aberdeenshire
Moray
Highlands & Eilean Siar
Highland
North East England
Darlington
Durham
Gateshead
Hartlepool
Middlesbrough
Newcastle upon Tyne
Northumberland
Redcar and Cleveland
Stockton-on-Tees
Sunderland
North West England
Blackburn with Darwen
Cheshire East
Cumbria
Greater Manchester
Lancashire
SW Scotland, Lothian Borders
Dumfries and Galloway East
Lothian
Edinburgh
Midlothian Council
Scottish Borders
West Lothian
Strathclyde
Argyll and Bute East
Ayrshire East
Dunbartonshire East
Renfrewshire
Glasgow
Inverclyde
North Ayrshire
North Lanarkshire
Renfrewshire
South Ayrshire
South Lanarkshire
West Dunbartonshire
West Midlands
Staffordshire
Stoke-on-Trent
Yorkshire & Humber
East Riding of Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
York
Yellow warning – rain and snow (midnight-11am)
Northern Ireland
County Antrim
County Armagh
County Down
County Fermanagh
County Londonderry
County Tyrone
Yellow warning – rain (6am-6am Sunday)
Wales
Blaenau
Gwent
Bridgend
Caerphilly
Cardiff
Carmarthenshire
Ceredigion
Conwy
Denbighshire
Gwynedd
Merthyr Tydfil
Monmouthshire
Neath
Port Talbot
Newport
Pembrokeshire
Powys
Rhondda
Cynon Taf
Swansea
Torfaen
Vale of Glamorgan
Wrexham
West Midlands
Herefordshire
Shropshire
Yellow warning – rain (6am-11.45pm)
London & South East England
Hampshire
Oxfordshire
Portsmouth
Southampton
West Berkshire
South West England
Bath and North East Somerset
Bournemouth
Christchurch and Poole
Bristol
Cornwall
Devon
Dorset
Gloucestershire
North Somerset
Plymouth
Somerset
South Gloucestershire
Swindon
Torbay
Wiltshire
West Midlands
Herefordshire
Sunday
Yellow warning – rain & snow (4am Saturday-9am Sunday)
Central, Tayside & Fife
Angus
Clackmannanshire
Falkirk
Fife
Perth and Kinross
Stirling
East Midlands
Derby
Derbyshire
Nottingham
Nottinghamshire
Grampian
Aberdeenshire
Moray
Highlands & Eilean Siar
Highland
North East England
Darlington
Durham
Gateshead
Hartlepool
Middlesbrough
Newcastle upon Tyne
Northumberland
Redcar and Cleveland
Stockton-on-Tees
Sunderland
North West England
Blackburn with Darwen
Cheshire East
Cumbria
Greater Manchester
Lancashire
SW Scotland, Lothian Borders
Dumfries and Galloway
East Lothian
Edinburgh
Midlothian Council
Scottish Borders
West Lothian
Strathclyde
Argyll and Bute
East Ayrshire
East Dunbartonshire
East Renfrewshire
Glasgow
Inverclyde
North Ayrshire
North Lanarkshire
Renfrewshire
South Ayrshire
South Lanarkshire
West Dunbartonshire
West Midlands
Staffordshire
Stoke-on-Trent
Yorkshire & Humber
East Riding of Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
West Yorkshire York
Yellow warning – rain (6am Saturday to 6am Sunday)
Wales
Blaenau
Gwent
Bridgend
Caerphilly
Cardiff
Carmarthenshire
Ceredigion
Conwy
Denbighshire
Gwynedd
Merthyr Tydfil
Monmouthshire
Neath
Port Talbot
Newport
Pembrokeshire
Powys
Rhondda
Cynon Taf
Swansea
Torfaen
Vale of Glamorgan
Wrexham
West Midlands
Herefordshire
Shropshire
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