Storm Bert has hit the UK, with snow closing roads and strong rains and winds expected to cause further travel disruption and potential flooding.
Weather warnings and 13 flood alerts have come into effect across much of the country.
Rail companies have urged passengers to avoid travelling to certain areas and some warned of reduced services. National Highways issued a “severe weather alert” for snow affecting Yorkshire and north-east England between 5am and 3pm on Saturday.
The A628 in Yorkshire remained closed overnight in both directions between the A616 Hollingworth and the A57 Flouch due to snow, National Highways said. The A66 Trans-Pennine route was closed between the A6 and the M6 (J40).
An amber alert for heavy snow and ice is in force until 5pm on Saturday in areas across Scotland, where 10-20cm is likely on ground above 200 metres and potentially as much as 20-40cm on hills above 400 metres.
The weather warning covers parts of Angus, Perth and Kinross, Stirlingshire, Aberdeenshire and some of the Highlands, Argyll and Bute, the Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire.
The annual Perth Christmas lights switch-on event has been cancelled over safety and travel concerns.
A second amber warning is in place until midday on Saturday covering parts of Yorkshire and north east England. While yellow warnings for wind, rain and snow are in place until 9am on Sunday for broader areas of those regions.
The Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern said: “We’ll see two to four hours of heavy snow across parts of northern England and Scotland during Saturday morning.
“This snow will accumulate thick and fast, with five to 10cm at lower levels and as much as 20 to 40cm over hills accompanied by strong winds.
“You can expect blizzards over hills across northern England and Scotland, atrocious conditions for travelling and going over the hills and also the risk of power interruptions because of snow build-up on power lines.
“So all in all, a multiple hazard event as we go into Saturday morning.”
He said temperatures would rise quickly as the storm brought with it milder air from the Atlantic, resulting in a “rapid thaw” by the afternoon.
“The melting snow and the heavy rain could lead to localised flooding in places but the wettest spots would be Wales, in the south-west, particularly over south-facing hills, that’s where we’re likely to see gales and certainly the risk of impacts from wind as well as from rain,” the meteorologist said.
Over the weekend, Wales and south-west England may receive 75mm of rain widely, and potentially more than 100mm over the higher parts of south Wales and Dartmoor.
Strong winds were expected to strike the southern coast, with gusts of more than 70mph in places.
Wind warnings covered Scotland from 5am until 7pm on Saturday.
Rain and snow warnings covered northern England until 9am on Sunday and Northern Ireland until 11am on Saturday. Rain warnings covered much of Wales until 6am on Sunday, and south-west England until 11.45pm on Saturday.
A wind warning also covered coastal areas of southern England from 9am until 9pm on Sunday.
ScotRail had cancelled services from Inverness to Elgin, Aberdeen to Inverurie, and Glasgow Queen Street to Oban, while trains from Glasgow Central to Carlisle were terminating at Dumfries.
South Western Rail asked passengers to only travel west of Basingstoke if their journeys were essential. It said services between Exeter and London Waterloo would start and finish at Basingstoke; that journey times would be longer between Salisbury and Exeter and between Bournemouth and Weymouth due to speed restrictions; and that services across its network would start later than usual on Sunday and Monday because of safety inspections.
The TransPennine Express “strongly” urged customers not to travel north of Carlisle on Saturday, while Avanti West Coast advised passengers not to travel north of Preston – including to Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith, Carlisle, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
