Cold spell worst since 1981, says Met Office
Met Office warns UK of more severe weather conditions to come during worst cold spell since 1981
Tuesday, 05, Jan 2010 02:51
By Sarah Garrod.
The Met Office has said this afternoon that heavy snowfall is expected across southern areas of England, with most counties affected by frost and snow overnight.
Forecasters said the heavy snow that has been affecting Scotland and northern England is moving south and the heaviest falls over the next 24-hours are expected across parts of central and southern England and south-east Wales.
Met Office chief forecaster, Tony Waters, said: "The heaviest snowfall this evening and tonight is expected across parts of Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire where fresh snowfall of 15 to 20 cm is expected widely, and locally in excess of 30 cm. This is expected to cause disruption to transport networks and could lead to problems with power supplies."
The Met Office has also said today that the current cold weather, which started in mid-December, has been the most prolonged spell of freezing conditions across the UK since December 1981. Weather forecasters added bitterly cold and wintry weather is forecast to continue for the next couple of weeks with further snowfall expected at times.
The 'deep freeze' has seen temperatures fall as low as -15C in some places over the last few days, and anyone needing to travel is being told to check conditions before leaving home as roads have become dangerous and airports have been shut.
Both Manchester and Liverpool airports have been forced to cancel flights today due to the severe weather, with Leeds/Bradford airport also affected by the frost and snow. A statement from Manchester airport issued this morning, said: "A significant amount of snow has fallen overnight and continues to fall at the airport and across Greater Manchester.
"The forecasts show that the situation is unlikely to clear before 12:00 GMT so operations will remain suspended until then at Manchester Airport. We have taken this decision, as we want to ensure that safety is maintained on the airfield for our airlines and passengers.
"A further decision about snow clearance on the airfield will be taken at that time taking into account the weather forecasts for the rest of the day. We encourage all passengers flying today to check with their airlines for the latest up-to-date information on their flight. Further updates will follow throughout the day."
The Highways Agency meanwhile has warned of icy conditions on the nation's roads today, saying: "Continuous salt treatment is being undertaken, targeted at high risk areas during the ongoing severe weather conditions.
"Drivers are advised that if they decide that they must travel to take additional care, in particular leaving sufficient distance between vehicles so that they can brake and stop safely."
Some train services are also affected by the weather, with Arriva Trains Wales , CrossCountry , East Coast , First TransPennine Express , Northern Rail , ScotRail , Virgin Trains named as those operators which could affected services, according to National Rail. The network said: "Because of poor weather conditions being experienced across many parts of the country, there is a risk of disruption to train services throughout Tuesday January 5th.
"Most train operators are expecting to run a full service."
Rail union the RMT said today the severe weather, which is affecting some rail travel, "exposes the dangerous gamble of plans to axe nearly 1500 maintenance jobs".
Yesterday a freight train derailed in Carrbridge in Scotland leading to diversions and disruption, and two trains collided at Exeter Saint David's.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "Hundreds of the track crew members out there today in appalling conditions trying to keep the railways running face the prospect of being slung on the scrapheap as part of Network Rail's job cuts programme. RMT is fighting those job cuts every step of the way and will begin balloting for action shortly.
"The severe weather has shown that we are already short of staff when we come under pressure and that makes a nonsense of the drive to axe nearly 1500 of these crucially important workers."
RMT said it will shortly be announcing a schedule for a ballot for industrial action of Network Rail maintenance members in response to the planned "jobs massacre" and an RMT lobby of parliament under the banner 'Cuts Cost Lives' will take place on the January 27th.
A number of schools in the UK have also been closed today due to the severe weather.