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Britain braces for more bank holiday rain and snow Better weather forecast as bank holiday draws to a soggy close
(about 9 hours later)
Five weather warnings are in place as heavy rain and snow blight swathes of the UK on Easter Monday. Weather conditions are forecast to gradually improve over the coming days after heavy rain and snow caused travel disruption and brought the Easter bank holiday weekend to a soggy end across much of the UK.
Forecasters have warned of treacherous driving conditions and travel disruption, with localised flooding in parts of southern England, Wales and Northern Ireland and up to 12cm of snow forecast across parts of northern England and southern Scotland. Up to 10cm of snow blanketed areas of northern England, Wales and Scotland, while torrential rain lashed southern areas as millions of motorists returned home.
Temperatures dipped as low as -7C (19.4F) in the Scottish Highlands overnight while torrential rain moved in from the south and west amid generally milder conditions. Yellow weather warnings – the lowest level – were issued for most of the UK. About 25 warnings to expect flooding were in place as of 2.30pm on Monday, in addition to 205 alerts about possible flooding.
Most of Wales, England and Northern Ireland is covered by a yellow warning for heavy rain, with up to 70mm expected to fall in some areas. More than 40mm of rain fell in some parts and images posted online showed roads and parks submerged under water and cars struggling on snow-covered motorways in what the AA warned was likely to be one of the busiest bank holidays in recent years.
About 150 flood alerts and 15 flood warnings were in place across England on Monday morning. Incidents included one in which a family escaped serious injury when their car lost traction and overturned after it hit standing water off the A52 near Derby. At Leeds Bradford airport, heavy snow and rain temporarily disrupted schedules, causing some cancellations.
Meanwhile, much of northern England and southern and central Scotland is covered by snow warnings. Several sporting fixtures had to be called off due to icy pitches and heavy rain. They included Nottingham Forest’s Championship clash with Barnsley, which was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, and League One matches involving Bradford and Walsall as well as Doncaster Rovers and AFC Wimbledon.
There were concerns that some rural communities could become cut off, mainly across the northern Pennines and Scottish Borders, with “significant accumulations” of snow forecast. While poor conditions were expected to worsen in Scotland and persist in Northern Ireland, the picture will improve for most parts in the coming days, according to the Met Office.
The Met Office said there was a chance of delays on roads, with stranded vehicles and disruption to rail and air travel. “A weather system has moved up from the south-west which has hit existing cold air,” said the meteorologist Alex Burkill. “That’s why we’ve seen a band of heavy rain falling with snow and sleet mixed in.”
Forecaster Marco Petagna said: “With this rainfall we are certainly looking at some localised flooding in south-west England, Wales and Northern Ireland anywhere in the warning area. In terms of snow there could be travel problems on some Pennine routes and higher ground.” Thursday in particular is forecast to be one of the better days while temperatures could creep up into the high teens by the end of the week.
#EasterMonday is starting cold and #frosty in the north. There's some snow 🌨️ on hills across central parts of the UK, with #rain and milder temperatures further south pic.twitter.com/hAtRAE3y2c The bad weather is not unusual for April, which has an average of 2.3 snow days each year.
For those who are travelling across Britain, warnings have been issued that train services could be disrupted and heavy traffic will take to the roads.
The AA warned motorists to take extra care and said the bank holiday weekend was likely to be one of the busiest in recent years.
Bad weather is not unusual in the UK in April – the month has an average of 2.3 snow days each year.
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