School closures and travel disruption after heavy snow and flooding causes chaos

Commuters brace for travel disruption as heavy snow and rain hit UKPlay Brightcove video

  • Hundreds of schools have closed after heavy snow as weather warnings remain in place across much of the UK.

  • Manchester Airport has reopened its runways after they were closed early on Monday morning, but warned passengers may experience delays.

  • Several roads across the country are closed because of snow, flooding or crashes.

  • Railway lines across the country are delayed due to flooding, with trains between Derby and both Nottingham and East Midlands Parkway cancelled.

  • The Environment Agency issued 166 flood warnings and 299 flood alerts across England.

Heavy snow and rain have caused hundreds of schools to close and disrupted travel across the country as weather warnings continue to remain in place on Monday morning.

More than 160 flood warnings and over 290 flood alerts are in place as the Met Office warned more travel disruption is likely because of flooding from heavy rain and melting snow.

It was the UK's coldest night of the winter so far, with a temperature of minus 13.3C recorded in Loch Glascarnoch in the Highlands, between Ullapool and Inverness.

It comes after most of the UK saw heavy snow or icy rainfall over the weekend, with more bad weather expected.

Manchester Airport[1] warned passengers may face delays after they temporarily closed their runways on Monday morning due to heavy snow.

Several roads are also closed and rail travel is disrupted across the Midlands due to heavy flooding.

School closures

Hundreds of schools across Lancashire, Yorkshire, County Durham and North Staffordshire have closed because of the snow.

More than 80 schools and nurseries across Aberdeenshire, Moray and Highland council areas are also shut due to snow and poor driving conditions.

Disruptions on roads

Several roads across the country are closed because of snow, flooding or crashes.

National Highways said the M5 in Gloucestershire is closed southbound from junction 11A for Gloucester to junction 12 for Quedgeley because of "extensive flooding".

Thousands of journeys on the M25 in Surrey are being delayed as the motorway is closed in the anti-clockwise direction from junction 10 for the A3 to junction eight for Reigate after a lorry crashed into the central reservation and came to a rest sideways across the carriageway.

The A46 in Warwickshire is also closed in both directions between the A452 for Kenilworth and the M40 (junction 15) because of a crash.

National Highways said "a car is reported to have aquaplaned due to flooding in the area".

Several stretches of A-roads across England are also closed.

Several roads across the country are closed because of snow, flooding or crashes. Credit: PA

Rail travel

Flooding has forced the closure of all railway lines between Derby and both Nottingham and East Midlands Parkway.

This is affecting CrossCountry and East Midlands Railway services.

All lines between Peterborough and Leicester are also closed because of flooding.

Southeastern trains are unable to run from Ramsgate or Margate towards London via Canterbury West because of a fallen tree.

Flooding near Hooton, Cheshire, means Merseyrail's Chester services are suspended while Ellesmere Port services will run as far as Hooton.

Snow covered Blackpool on Sunday. Credit: PA

Air travel

Manchester Airport said its runways have reopened after being closed because of severe weather.

The airport said in a statement: "Our runways are now open but, as a result of the earlier closure, some departures and arrivals may still experience delays.

"Please check with your airline for the latest flight information and allow extra time for your journey today."

Disruption is also expected at Leeds Bradford Airport because of snow.

In a statement, the airport said: "Most of last night's arrivals were diverted, our airline partners need to reposition aircraft and crew back to LBA before resuming today's flight schedule."

Heavy snowfall overnight has caused travel disruption on Monday. Credit: PA

Where are the weather warnings in place?

A yellow weather warning for rain covering parts of Wales, the Midlands and parts of Greater Manchester and Yorkshire is in force until 10am.

In most of northern England and Wales, a yellow warning for snow and ice covering is in place until midday on Monday, while a yellow ice warning covering large parts of Northern Ireland expires at 11am.

The north and west of Scotland are covered by a yellow warning for snow and ice until 11am on Monday, with another for snow and ice in central and eastern parts of the country in place until midday.

A further yellow snow warning covering part of the Scottish Lowlands including Edinburgh is in place until midday.

The Environment Agency issued 166 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, and 299 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible, across England as of 8am on Monday.

At the same point, National Resources Wales had issued three flood warnings and 34 flood alerts.

In Ireland, tens of thousands of homes and businesses are without water and electricity after heavy snow.

The Irish Electricity Supply Board warned it may take days to restore supply to all customers.

What has the Met Office said?

Cold air will return and remain across the whole country from Monday onwards after a brief spell of milder conditions in southern areas, the Met Office said.

Deputy chief forecaster Mike Silverstone said: "The low pressure that brought the snow and heavy rain in the south will move out to the east by Monday. This will allow a cold northerly flow to become established again for much of next week.

"This will bring further sleet, snow and hail showers to northern Scotland in particular, but possibly to some other areas, especially near western coasts, with a fair amount of dry and bright weather elsewhere.

"Temperatures will remain below average, with widespread frost and the threat of ice at times. Some areas, especially in the north, may struggle to get above freezing for several days."

Further weather warnings could be issued with the potential for some snow to fall in southern and central England and Wales around the middle of the week, Mr Silverstone said.

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References

  1. ^ Manchester Airport (x.com)
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