Cold weather warnings remain in force in Scotland until 10am today, with ice predicted in the west coast and snow in northern parts.
Last night, temperatures dropped to lows of -6.4c in Eskdalemuir, -4.7c in Salsburgh, -4.6c at Tyndrum and -4.1c at Tulloch Bridge.
A fresh snow warning has been issued for much of the country from early on Sunday morning, lasting until 12 noon on Monday.
(PA Graphics)
Dan Stroud, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “There’ll be widespread frost across the country (overnight), from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
“It will be comfortably below where we should be for this time of year and I would expect temperatures to hit minus 8C in parts of Scotland.”
Mr Stroud confirmed conditions should become warmer by the end of this weekend before cold weather strikes again early next week.
The cold snap started in Scotland with snow on New Years Day. Motorists on the A9 had to contend with blizzard conditions, while snow ploughs were brought in to keep lanes clear.
A chilly start to Friday, with snow and ice warnings in force for coastal parts of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland ⚠️
Frosty in the south beneath clearer skies, but cloudier further north, with wintry showers affecting parts of Scotland and windward facing coasts 🌨️ pic.twitter.com/vS5i770Agw
— Met Office (@metoffice) January 2, 2025
He said: “The second half of the weekend should be in the high singles or low doubles.
“But temperatures will dive again next week, particularly on Monday and Tuesday.
“They should start to improve towards the latter end of the week. But there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge until then.”
Age UK director Caroline Abrahams said the Government’s decision to limit the winter fuel allowance to only the poorest pensioners will be put “into sharp relief” by the cold snap.
Ms Abrahams said the charity had already been contacted by older people “worrying about what to do when this moment arrived”.
From this winter, only people on pension credit or certain other benefits will receive the winter fuel payments while more than nine million others are set to be stripped of the allowance.
Slips, trips and falls become more likely during icy weather conditions, so it’s important to be mindful of the weather before setting off.
🧤 Keep your hands free 🥾 Wear shoes with good grip ❄️ Avoid going out early when the frost is thick or late at night when it’s dark. pic.twitter.com/fb1NtZVRHO
— NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board (ICB) (@NHSinBlkCountry) January 2, 2025
The charity director said: “We urge older people to do everything they can to stay warm, even if that means risking spending more on their heating than they feel they can afford.
“The energy companies are under an obligation to help if you are struggling and there may be support available from your local council too.”
Elderly people have been urged to stay warm (PA) (Image: PA)
Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said: “At the moment we’ve issued a very large snow warning for Saturday until Monday but it doesn’t mean that everywhere within that warning could see snow, it’s just a heads-up there could be some impacts.”
The Met Office has warned people to be prepared and aware when travelling with longer journey times likely.
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Railways are likely to experience delays or cancellations, with National Rail confirming that various routes across England, Scotland and Wales are impacted.
Poor weather is currently affecting National Rail’s Northern and ScotRail services.
A cold northerly airflow dominated the weather on Thursday with clear skies for many, but wintry showers in the north and east 🌦️
Here are the extremes for Thursday the 2nd January 2025 👇 pic.twitter.com/TlBdTlClFy
— Met Office (@metoffice) January 3, 2025
The yellow warning indicates there could be icy surfaces in northern and western Scotland, the north-west of England and Northern Ireland, so motorists and pedestrians alike are warned to be wary of icy patches on untreated roads, pavements, or cycle paths.
Met Office weather warnings for the UK (Image: Press Association Images)Fresh weather warnings have been issued by the Met Office for ice ahead of a blast of snow over the weekend.
The yellow warning predicts snow could arrive in many areas of the country, including Glasgow and the Central belt, during the early hours of Sunday morning.
The threat of snowfall is forecast to last until 12 noon on Monday, and follows three days of ice warnings as the New Year cold snap continues.
The Met Office has already issued warnings of snow and ice for parts of Scotland from 10am on Thursday.
The ice warning chiefly covers the West Coast, while snow has been falling in the north, making travelling conditions treacherous on the A9 yesterday.
Snow ploughs on the A9 on Wednesday (Image: Peter Jolly)On Thursday and Friday, ice is expected to create difficult travel conditions in the west of the country.
A snow and ice warning is also in place covering parts of northern Scotland between 4pm on Thursday and 10am on Friday.
Snow ploughs were deployed on the A9 this week (Image: PA) Transport Scotland advised those travelling to be cautious and plan ahead. A spokesman urged the public to check conditions before travelling.
He added: “Please drive to the conditions, follow police travel advice, and allow extra time for your journeys.
“There is still a fair amount of localised flooding and a number of weather warnings remain in place. We’ve chaired another call with our key operational partners and the Multi Agency Response Team to ensure operating companies have suitable resources in place.
“We are grateful to staff who are out working 24/7 in challenging conditions to help keep most major roads open, with care and caution.”