The Met Office has issued new yellow weather warnings for snow, sleet, hail, freezing rain and icy conditions across most of the UK this weekend, as an Arctic blast of very cold air moves in from the north. The warnings for wintry weather and potential travel disruption are in place until Sunday morning.
From 4pm Friday until 10am Saturday, warnings for snow, sleet and hail showers cover northern Scotland and coastal areas of north-east England and Yorkshire. Ice warnings are in place from 5pm Friday until 10am Saturday across Wales, south-west England, northern England, the Midlands, the east of England and London. Northern Ireland is under an ice warning from 8pm Friday to 10am Saturday.
A further snow and ice warning comes into effect from 9pm Saturday to 10am Sunday, covering Scotland and northern England, with forecasters predicting potentially heavy snow and freezing rain. The Met Office warned of hazardous ice on untreated roads and pavements.
National Highways reported that the A66 across the Pennines was closed between County Durham and Cumbria due to concentrated snowfall, with crews working to clear the carriageway. The UK Health Security Agency has issued yellow cold weather alerts for northern England and the Midlands until Monday morning, warning of increased risk to vulnerable people.
The wintry conditions follow a wet start to 2026, with parts of Devon, Cornwall and Worcestershire experiencing 40 days of rain. As of Friday, there were 76 flood warnings and 154 flood alerts in England, and four flood alerts in Wales. Aberdeen endured 21 days without sun until a brief 30-minute appearance on Thursday afternoon.
