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Snow sweeps across London as Met Office issues new weather warnings

Overnight, the capital shivered in temperatures as low as -3C.

London, Jan 24, 2021: Snow swept across London on Sunday as forecasters warned of hazardous conditions. Many took to social media to share pictures of heavy snowfall outside their homes as the capital was gripped by a cold snap from Iceland and the Arctic.

A Transport for London roadside CCTV camera was among the first to capture a blizzard on the A4 Sipson Road near Heathrow. By 11am, heavy snow was falling as far east as Plumstead, in Greenwich.

The Met Office was ready to put in place five new weather warnings for snow and ice going into the final week of January.

In flood-hit parts of the country, further heavy rainfall, which caused severe flooding in the wake of Storm Christoph, is not forecast until next Wednesday - but plummeting temperatures are expected.

Forecasters predicted the snow in would continue to fall in London until at least the middle of Sunday afternoon. Monday is expected to be dry and sunny - but the Met Office is warning of icy conditions with temperatures set to stay as low as 4C.
Temperatures across the whole of the UK dropped below freezing overnight, with the coldest temperatures in the Scottish Highlands at an icy -10C.

Elsewhere, London and Manchester got down to -3C overnight and Bristol, Belfast and Glasgow dropped to -2C.

Frosts are expected overnight on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

Meteorologist Martin Bowles said: “The biggest hazard over the next couple of days is going to be ice because we’re getting these snow showers which will all freeze overnight.

“Obviously roads tend to be quite well gritted, especially main roads, but I would warn people to be careful on pavements, minor roads that don’t get gritted or city roads."

The Met Office’s first warning for snow and ice is already in place in north-west England, but four more will be in place by tomorrow morning.

Areas being placed under warnings are Northern Ireland, south-west England and South Wales, the Midlands, and south-east England.
Mr Bowles said the cold spell would continue until about Wednesday before being replaced with milder temperatures in the final days of the month.

“That’s not to say that that’s the end of all cold weather for winter, it isn’t, we’ve just got a mild spell coming up,” he said.

Despite people being urged to heed flood warnings into the weekend, Mr Bowles said they were “gradually reducing” and that more heavy rain was not expected until Wednesday night or Thursday.

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