Amber weather warning issued as UK braces for snow and ice

As much colder conditions are felt across the United Kingdom, multiple wintry hazards are in the forecast this week.

Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for snow in parts of north-east England on Thursday and a number yellow severe weather warnings for snow and ice across much of the UK between now and Thursday.

There are also amber and yellow cold-health alerts, issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), valid until Saturday across northern England and the Midlands.

It will turn less cold by the end of the week.

Maximum temperatures on Monday were only 3-9C and while more like average for mid-November, much lower than the relatively milder conditions so far this month.

Monday night was widely England's coldest night of the autumn so far with temperatures below freezing and down to -5.2C at Benson, Oxfordshire.

There was also a frost overnight in Wales and northern Scotland.

It will only get colder in the next few days as a strong northerly wind drags cold Arctic air across the UK with temperatures falling between 3-6C below the mid-November average.

Yellow cold-health alerts from the UKHSA are in force across the Midlands until 08:00 GMT Friday.

More severe amber alerts have been issued for North West, North East, Yorkshire and Humber for the same period.

These alerts are mainly for health and social care services, warning of "significant" impacts to more vulnerable members of the community.

Extra demands may be put on services to deal with the colder weather.

The cold weather can lead to excess deaths, particularly those over 65 or those with health conditions. The UKHSA also warns there maybe impacts to some younger age groups too.

An amber warning for snow, largely across the North Yorkshire Moors, will come into force at 05:00 on Thursday and will run until 21:00 that day.

As much as 15-25cm of snow may accumulate in hills above 100m. Strong and gusty winds could also give blizzard conditions at times and produce bigger drifts of snow in some places.

The Met Office says that travel delays are likely and that some vehicles and passengers could become stranded. Some communities could become cut off, plus power and mobile phone services may be affected too.

Before that, even colder air and further frequent and heavy snow showers will spread into northern Scotland, even to sea level later on Tuesday. These will continue right through until Thursday.

A Met Office yellow warning for snow and ice will be in force for northern Scotland from 18:00 GMT Tuesday to 21:00 GMT Thursday.

Snow showers may bring 2-5cm to low levels but as much as 15-20cm is possible above 300m.

Gusty winds and lightning with the snow may bring additional hazards.

The snow could make some higher routes impassable and there could be some disruption to rail journeys.

On Tuesday night a mix of rain, sleet and snow will also move across northern England and Wales.

And while any settling snow is more likely over higher ground, a small covering in places at low levels on Wednesday morning can't be ruled out.

With temperatures falling overnight on Tuesday, ice will be an additional hazard where there has been snow.

But even away from that, there are numerous Met Office yellow warnings for ice issued.

The cold northerly wind on Wednesday will blow in snow showers across mostly northern Scotland but also for a time in Northern Ireland, eastern England, west Wales and even the Moors of south-west England.

Some of these snow showers could be heavy with thunderstorms - known as 'thundersnow'.

There are multiple Met Office yellow warnings for snow and ice across the UK throughout Wednesday and into Thursday.

Where the snow showers come in frequently, some areas may get 2-5cm at low levels.

But over hills above 200m, up to 10cm of settling snow is possible.

As temperatures fall below freezing overnight, ice will form.

From Wednesday it will feel especially cold for most of us with temperatures of 2-5C but feeling more like minus 2 to 4C when you're in the wind.

There will be some overnight frosts and risk of ice where showers fall.

Thursday night will be the coldest night this week with temperatures widely falling below zero and down to -12C in rural Scotland.

While Friday will start as the coldest morning of the autumn so far with lots of sunshine, we'll start to see a shift away from the cold northerly wind.

An Atlantic weather system will slowly come in from the west bringing more cloud and bit of rain and less-cold air.

Temperatures by Saturday will rise slightly to average. So while it won't feel as mild as it was last week, it won't be as cold as much of this week will be.

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