The UK is facing further weather chaos this weekend as Storm Bert arrives, bringing 70mph winds, heavy rain and snow.
The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning and a series of yellow warnings covering much of the country, with Bert sweeping across the UK on Saturday and Sunday.
The second named storm of the season will bring wind gusts of up to 70mph and heavy rain with the potential for flooding and travel disruption.
Many Britons again faced freezing temperatures on Thursday and overnight into Friday, forcing almost 200 schools and nurseries to close in Scotland, England, and Wales. The lowest temperature was recorded on Thursday at Tulloch Bridge in Scotland, where the mercury fell to -6°C.
The Met Office’s deputy chief meteorologist Dan Holley said: “Storm Bert marks a shift to much milder air and wintry hazards will gradually diminish through the weekend, but heavy snowfall is expected across parts of northern England and Scotland for a time on Saturday, especially over higher ground, and warnings are in place.
“Heavy rain through Saturday and Sunday, especially in southern and western parts of the UK, will also bring impacts for some with a number of warnings in place.”
He also warned of “rapid melting of lying snow” over the weekend, coupled with “periods of strong winds” which are likely cause additional travel disruption and flooding.
One flood warning and four flooding alerts are currently in place across southern England, but these are likely to increase significantly over the weekend.
The amber alert for heavy snow and ice will be in force between 7am and 5pm on Saturday in an area north of Scotland’s central belt. Around 10-20cm of snowfall 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 and Argyll and Bute.
Four yellow warnings covering much of the country, but excluding London and central southern England, come into effect on Friday afternoon before a slew of further yellow alerts for wind, rain and snow go live on Saturday.
Met Office meteorologist Honor Criswick added that on Friday “snow showers are set to continue mainly around coastal areas though once again still a few feeding inland at times”. Most of the country will see “plenty of autumnal sunshine” as temperatures reach 5°C for many, she added, with temperatures reaching 2-3°C for some in the north of the country.
The forecaster continued: “As we head into Friday evening, a change is on its way as we introduce Storm Bert moving its way in from the Atlantic. So we’ll see clouds spilling in from the south west with outbreaks of rain – heavy at times by the time we reach Saturday morning.”
Ms Criswick said there were likely to be “heavy” outbreaks of rain throughout Saturday, “falling as snow” at times across northern parts of England and parts of Scotland.
The wintry weather has hampered education, with more than 114 schools shut in Scotland’s Highland region area on Thursday because of snow, including Inverness Royal Academy where pupils were told exams planned for the day will be rescheduled.
Almost 40 schools in Aberdeenshire were also shut while many others had delayed openings and in Moray around 12 were closed and others opened late.
More than 100 schools or nurseries were also closed in Scotland on Wednesday because of the weather.
South of the border, 89 schools were shut in Devon on Thursday, 18 in Dorset and 60 in Cornwall, while in Wales around 10 were closed in Conwy, 18 in Denbighshire and two in Wrexham.
