Key points
- Power supply cut in parts of UK.
- Forecast of 30cm of snow.
- Bristol Airport suspended operations for few hours.
ISLAMABAD: Owing to harsh weather, homes were left without electricity, roads were closed, and flights and train services were disrupted in much of the United Kingdom.
According to the Guardian, National Grid had cut power on Saturday night across the Midlands, south-west England, and south Wales, including Birmingham, Bristol, and Cardiff, and that work was underway to get services restored.
For the weekend, the Met Office issued a slew of weather warnings. The office also forecast up to 30cm of snow.
Bristol Airport suspended operations for a few hours due to challenging weather. But that it had now reopened, saying that its teams were “working hard on snow clearing”.
Vehicle collisions
Police in Wiltshire labelled the weather as “causing chaos”, Cumbria police said it received calls about a multi-vehicle collision in the Lake District. Avon and Somerset police warned of possible disruption on roads in parts of Somerset
The roads that had to be closed were the A303 in Wiltshire between the A338 Cholderton and A345 Amesbury in both directions. The A628 Woodhead Pass was also closed in both directions between the A616 Hollingworth and the A57 Flouch as a result of intense snow.
National Highways also reported a “number of collisions” on the M5 between junction 21 at Weston-super-Mare and junction 25 at Taunton.
Great Western Railway was also badly affected by the chilly weather. Extreme weather also disrupted trains on the line between Exeter St Davids and Plymouth.
Lowest temperatures
On Friday, the lowest temperatures were reported in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, where -8.6C was recorded.
Jason Kelly,The Met Office chief forecaster, said some “significant accumulations” of snow were possible in parts of Wales, the Midlands and northern England.
He further said, “There is a risk of freezing rain across parts of the Midlands and northern England, but especially Wales. As the super-cooled rain droplets hit the surface they instantly freeze, covering everything in a layer of ice, making it extremely dangerous.”
The UK Health Security Agency issued cold weather health alerts for all of England. It will remain in place for the entire week of low temperatures in the UK. Warnings were issued early on Thursday and would run until 8 January.
