Storm Bert is set to strike the UK – with snow, rain and strong winds expected to cause travel disruption and potential flooding.
The country is braced for the storm’s arrival on Saturday, with several weather warnings and 16 flood alerts coming into effect across England and Scotland.
Several rail companies urged passengers to avoid travelling to certain areas and some warned of reduced services while National Highways issued a “severe weather alert” for snow affecting Yorkshire and north-east England between 5am and 3pm on Saturday.
An amber alert for heavy snow and ice will be in force between 7am and 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 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.
Perth and Kinross Council cancelled its annual Perth Christmas lights switch-on event over safety and travel concerns.
A second amber warning will be in place between 7am and midday on Saturday covering parts of Yorkshire and the north east of England.
Meanwhile, yellow wind, rain and snow warnings cover much of the rest of the UK.
According to Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern, it should be “relatively quiet” overnight with temperatures at around minus 4C across parts of Scotland and minus 1C in eastern England.
“We’ll see two to four hours of heavy snow across parts of northern England and Scotland during Saturday morning,” Mr McGivern said.
“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 will rise quickly as the storm brings 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 the South West are at risk of seeing 75mm of rain widely, and potentially more than 100mm over the higher parts of South Wales and Dartmoor.
Strong winds are expected to strike the southern coast with gusts of more than 70mph in places.
Wind warnings cover Scotland from 5am until 7pm on Saturday.
Rain and snow warnings cover northern England from 4am to 9am and Northern Ireland from midnight on Friday until 11am on Saturday. Rain warnings cover much of Wales from 6am on Saturday until 6am on Sunday, and south-west England from 6am on Saturday until 11.45pm.
A wind warning also covers coastal areas of southern England from 3pm until 9pm on Saturday.
Rail companies issued announcements of service changes ahead of the weekend.
In Scotland, there will be speed restrictions on the West Highland Line, Highland Mainline, Stranraer line, Glasgow South Western Line, Far North Line, and West Coast Mainline between Carstairs and the border.
ScotRail has withdrawn services from Inverness to Elgin, Aberdeen to Inverurie, and Glasgow Queen Street to Oban while trains from Glasgow Central to Carlisle will terminate at Dumfries.
South Western Rail (SWR) asked passengers to only travel west of Basingstoke if their journeys are essential.
SWR announced services between Exeter and London Waterloo will start and finish at Basingstoke, that journey times will be longer between Salisbury and Exeter and between Bournemouth and Weymouth due to speed restrictions, and services across its network will start later than usual on Sunday and Monday because of safety inspections.
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 Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith, Carlisle, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
UK airports are not anticipating disruption.
A spokesperson for Birmingham Airport said: “Whilst we are not anticipating disruption at this time… we will continue to keep a close eye on the situation, as Storm Bert moves in.”
Manchester Airport said “we’re expecting bad weather but aren’t anticipating any disruption” while Newcastle Airport said it will be operating as normal overnight with teams “fully prepared to respond should conditions deteriorate”.
