Storm Bert has brought travel chaos to the UK as major roads were left blanketed in snow and passengers forced to sit on planes for hours amid a slew of severe weather warnings
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UK weather: Storm Bert brings heavy snow to Newcastle
Flights have been grounded, motorways left covered in snow and festive events cancelled after Storm Bert began to batter the UK.
Weather warnings for wind, rain or snow cover the majority of the country on Saturday, with a more severe amber warning covering parts of northern England and central Scotland. Travel impacts started to be felt this morning, as passengers at Newcastle International Airport described being left on the tarmac for over three hours as the runway became blanketed in snow, with disruption also reported at Leeds Bradford Airport.
Met Office spokesman Oli Claydon said this weekend’s storm is expected to be a “multi-hazard event”. He said: “We’re looking at strong winds, some high snowfall accumulation, heavy rain, all in various different parts of the UK. So it’s quite a complex weather set-up for the weekend. Generally speaking, it’s a very unsettled weekend of weather ahead.”
Snow began to settle on roads in South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, central Scotland and Cumbria early on Saturday, with photographs showing motorists attempting to navigate the wintry conditions. Major transport routes including the A1(M) in County Durham have also been affected, and the M48 Severn Bridge has closed in both directions due to high wind speeds. Other areas further south are expected to see the precipitation fall as heavy rain, potentially as much as 100mm in just a few hours. High winds have also hit areas in the south, including in Wimbledon Common, where workers were forced to clear a fallen tree from a main road this morning.
A Met Office amber weather warning has been issued for snow and hail covering part of the North East on Saturday morning. A separate yellow weather warning has been issued for snow and hail, alongside another yellow warning for wind covering coastal areas. National Highways also handed down a “severe weather alert” for snow in Yorkshire and northeast England – with “blizzard conditions” set to arrive and up to five hours of heavy snow expected to “accumulate quickly at all levels”. It said: “Storm Bert will bring rain and strong winds north-eastwards on today between 5am and 3pm, the rain preceded by a period of disruptive snow over parts of northeast England,” it said.
“While snow is expected to turn to rain from the south, three to five hours of heavy snow is expected and accumulate quickly at all levels, leading to significant travel disruption. As the snow turns to rain, a rapid thaw is expected to set in as temperatures quickly rise with localised flooding possible.”
Christmas light switch-ons have also been cancelled and postponed this weekend ahead of the storm. Among the events cancelled are the Worcester lantern parade and the Bromsgrove Christmas light switch-on, as well as St John’s market. Other Christmas events being held in Warwickshire and Staffordshire, including the Ironbridge lights switch-on, have been postponed.
