Merseyside is being told to prepare for "severe" cold weather and heavy snow as the Met Office has issued an urgent warning.
A level two alert has been issued for the majority of England and will be in place between 6pm on Sunday, January 15 to 9am on Thursday, January 19. The Met Office warn there is a 70% probability of severe cold weather, icy conditions and heavy snow, and has advised people in those regions affected to stock up on food and medicines to reduce the need to go outside.
London, the South and South West are covered by a level 1 alert, which is a warning for people to stay vigilant.
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Northerly winds are set to develop through Sunday and into Monday, bringing colder air across much of the country. This will affect northern areas initially on Sunday, before moving south to affect most areas during Monday.
The Met Office says showers will be more frequent in western areas and fewer in eastern areas, but becoming increasingly wintry for all areas through Monday. Occasionally strong winds will "exacerbate" the cold feel.
The official wording of the alert from the Met Office says: "There is a 70% probability of severe cold weather/icy conditions/heavy snow between 1800 on Sunday 15 Jan and 0900 on Thursday 19 Jan in parts of England. This weather could increase the health risks to vulnerable patients and disrupt the delivery of services.
"Please refer to the national Cold Weather Plan and your Trust's emergency plan for appropriate preventive action."
The Met Office has said these alerts may be updated on Monday, once "confidence has improved".
There are six regions covered by the warning: The North West England, North East England, East Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber and East England. There are five levels of response based on cold weather, these include; region not included, winter preparedness and action, alert and readiness, severe weather action and national emergency.
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