Hundreds of schools across northern Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and northern England remained closed on Tuesday as the UK experienced its coldest night of the year, with weather warnings for snow and ice extended into Wednesday morning. The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for ice covering most of England, Wales and southern Scotland until 10am on Wednesday, and a yellow warning for snow and ice for northern Scotland until midnight on Wednesday, where up to 20cm of fresh snow is expected in some areas, accompanied by strong winds causing drifting.
The coldest temperature of -12.5C was recorded at Marham in Norfolk, while Dalwhinnie in the Scottish Highlands recorded -11.2C. An amber warning for snow remains in place for large parts of north-east and northern Scotland from 11am until 7pm on Tuesday, with forecasts of 5–10cm widely and up to 15cm in some places. A yellow warning for snow and ice also applies from Perth northwards until midnight on Tuesday.
Looking ahead, Storm Goretti, the first named storm of the year, is expected to make landfall on Thursday, bringing further disruption and difficult travelling conditions. The Met Office has issued snow warnings for large parts of England and Wales from 6pm on Thursday, as a deep area of low pressure moves across the south of the UK, bringing rain, snow and strong winds.
School closures on Tuesday included those in Shetland, Orkney and Aberdeenshire, after pupils had an extra day of holiday on Monday due to the weather. Schools also remained shut in Wales, Northern Ireland, Staffordshire and North Yorkshire. Snow continues to disrupt road, air and rail travel, with some train lines still closed after heavy snow drifted onto the tracks on Monday. In Aberdeen, the local council deployed industrial diggers to clear snow from main roads.
National Rail said train services in northern Scotland would be disrupted until the end of Tuesday, although ScotRail said services between Aberdeen and Dundee would run in the morning. On Monday, Loganair cancelled flights from Aberdeen and Inverness airports, and several flights to and from Sumburgh airport in Shetland and Kirkwall in Orkney were cancelled. In the yellow alert area, forecasters predict 2–5cm of snow widely, with up to 10–15cm in some areas. From the central belt south, most places are likely to see no more than 1–2cm of mainly light snow.
