Snow in London: Met Office issues amber warning for snow and ice in London this weekend saying travel disruption is likely
The Met Office has upped its warnings for snow and ice in the capital this weekend, with other parts of England and Scotland braced to expect snow from today.
It has told Londoners to gear up for travel disruption too, with delays and cancellations to rail and air travel deemed likely.
The Met Office has now issued an amber warning for London and the south east, up from a yellow one put out earlier in the week, meaning there is an increased likelihood of bad weather affecting the area.
The warning for snow and ice is in place between 4pm on Saturday 17 March and 9am Sunday 18 March.
Read more: Government issues health warning as London braces for more snow
Snow showers are expected to become more frequent through Saturday evening and night with icy patches also developing on some untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths.
Travel disruption
The Met said:
Travel delays on roads are likely, stranding some vehicles and passengers. Some delays and cancellations to rail and air travel are likely.
Some injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces are expected.
Whilst some areas are expected to receive “relatively small amounts of snow”, narrow bands of 5-10cm of snow are likely, the Met added. “Strong easterly winds will result in some drifting of lying snow, and lead to a significant wind chill.”
Amber and Yellow warnings for #snow and #ice have been issued for Saturday. Here are where some of the worst affected areas are likely to be. Travel disruption is expected, take care and stay #weatheraware pic.twitter.com/WAwzGZNfFX— Met Office (@metoffice) March 16, 2018
Highways England meanwhile has told drivers to be prepared before setting out on journeys after a severe weather alert for snow. Gritting teams will be out to treat roads and keep traffic moving on motorways.
Southeastern has issued a warning to passengers, saying this afternoon:
This weekend the forecast is for much colder temperatures and snowfall across our network.
The heaviest snowfall is expected from Saturday afternoon, overnight into Sunday morning. We’ll be working hard with Network Rail to keep the tracks free of snow and ice but if the weather is worse than expected, there may be some disruption and short notice changes.
We’ll be running our normal weekend timetables, except where affected by planned engineering work. Some trains will be formed of more carriages than usual, to improve their resilience to snow and icy weather.
Yesterday, the government issued further health warnings off the back of cold weather forecasts, warning people to look out for others and to consider the forecast when planning activities.
Dr Thomas Waite, a consultant in health protection at PHE, said: “The weather has felt much milder for the last week or so but this weekend the forecasters tell us it will get much colder again. And that may come as a shock to the system for some whose bodies may struggle to cope in cold weather.”
He recommended keeping an eye on young children and older people in particular, as well as those with heart and lung conditions, to make sure their homes are being heated to at least 18 degrees.
Read more: Grayling tells train firms to improve communication after travel chaos