The Met Office has issued “severe” amber weather warnings for snow and ice across much of England and Wales this weekend.
Yellow weather warnings are often issued at times of high wind and rain and snow and ice by the Met Office.
Amber weather warnings are more rare, but the Met Office has issued two for large parts of the Midlands, north of England and Wales this weekend.
But what exactly do the Met Office’s weather alerts mean?
The colour-coded matrix
The forecaster uses a colour-coded ‘matrix’ to measure the likelihood and predicted impact of weather events such as rain, thunderstorms, wind, snow, lightning, ice, extreme heat and fog.
Yellow warnings are usually issued for weather that will cause “low level impact” and some disruption to travel. They may also be used for weather that could be severe but the probability of it occurring is considered unlikely.
Amber warnings are issued for more severe weather that could disrupt people’s plans. This means “there is the possibility of travel delays, road and rail closures, power cuts and the potential risk to life and property,” according to the Met Office website.
Red warnings mean “dangerous” weather is expected with a high likelihood of risk to life, disruption to travel and energy, and the destruction of property and infrastructure.
The Met Office may also issue ‘dual warnings’, when the combined impact of different weathers is expected to bring disruption, such as ‘snow and ice’, or ‘wind and rain’.
Warnings are published on the Met Office app and website, social media, email alerts and news feeds.
The latest weather warnings
On Friday, the Met Office issued an amber warning for snow and ice across central England and Wales from Saturday at 6 pm to noon on Sunday.
A separate amber warning for snow across Northern England is also in place from 9pm on Saturday to the end of Sunday.
On Saturday, the Met Office also added yellow warnings for ice across northern Scotland and snow and ice in Northern Ireland to its forecast for the weekend.
Yellow warnings for snow in southern Scotland and snow and ice on the east coast of Scotland are in place until Monday.
Chief Forecaster Jason Kelly said: “We have issued a number of severe weather warnings, including amber warnings for snow and ice in parts of England and Wales.
“Some significant accumulations of snow are possible across parts of Wales, the Midlands and Northern England in particular, where 5cm or more could accumulate fairly widely, with as much as 20-30cm over high ground of mid and north Wales and potentially 30-40cm over parts of the Pennines.”
There is also the risk that snow could turn to “freezing rain”, meaning supercooled rain droplets instantly freezing as they hit surfaces.
National Highways Severe Weather Resilience Manager, Darren Clark, said: “If you are travelling this weekend, keep your distance and reduce your speed. Gritters will be out treating our roads around the clock when ice or snow is forecast, but it is still important to drive to the conditions.
“Even in conditions that seem normal and where the snow is not settling you could always experience slippery conditions.
“Drivers should plan their journeys, check their vehicles, monitor weather reports and pack a snow kit of blankets, food, water and a shovel.”
Milder air moving in from Sunday could cause a rapid thaw of snow and ice, which brings the possibility of flooding.
Ben Lukey, Flood Duty Manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Combined rainfall, snow and snowmelt over the weekend means minor river and surface water flooding impacts are possible in parts of England on Sunday and Monday.
