Britain’s big freeze caused further havoc today as flights were disrupted, schools closed and bin collections were thrown into chaos – with more snow on the way.
Met Office warnings for snow and ice remained in force across much of the UK after severe flooding and blizzards caused motorway closures and shut railway lines, while there were even flurries in London this morning as commuters headed to work.
Post-Christmas bin collections have also been disrupted in areas including Sheffield, Leeds, Calderdale, Kirklees, Macclesfield and Flintshire because of the conditions.
Bristol Airport suspended all flights for a period this morning due to the snow, while Liverpool John Lennon Airport closed for snow clearing and anti-icing until 10am.
Manchester Airport also temporarily shut both of its runways for the third day in a row today due to heavy snow, with flights diverted and more delays expected later.
Aberdeen Airport also paused flights due to ‘freezing conditions’ with its teams having been ‘working throughout the night to clear snow and de-ice the airfield’.
The Met Office said up to 4in (10cm) of snow would fall over higher ground into this morning, then a further 4in in 15 hours tomorrow in the South. And there were reports of ‘thundersnow’ in Scotland as thunderstorms formed in the wintry conditions.
More than 350 schools were closed due to the weather today as West Yorkshire made up the majority with 177 closures in Bradford, 95 in Kirklees and 48 in Leeds.
Temperatures fell to -8.1C (17F) in the Highlands early this morning, while the low in England was -5C (23F) at both Topcliffe in North Yorkshire and Shap in Cumbria – after yesterday was the UK’s coldest night of winter so far with -13.3C (8.1F).
A snow and ice warning for Scotland runs from 12pm today until 12pm tomorrow, and for Northern Ireland from 3pm today until 12pm tomorrow. A separate snow alert for southern England, including South London, runs tomorrow from 9am until midnight.
The Environment Agency has issued a severe flood warning, meaning danger to life, for the River Soar covering caravan parks near Barrow upon Soar in Leicestershire.
Across England, there were a further 201 flood warnings for ‘expected’ flooding and 300 alerts for ‘possible’ flooding. Natural Resources Wales also issued 15 alerts.
Manchester Airport said this morning that it had reopened its two runways after closing them for the third consecutive day because of snow.
The airport said at 2am that the runways were closed ‘due to heavy snow’, and soon after 5am said they had reopened.
It said: ‘Our runways are now open, but as a result of the earlier closure, some departures and arrivals may still experience delays. Please check with your airline for the latest updates and allow extra time for your journey.’
At least 23 flights due to arrive at Manchester between 4.40pm yesterday and 1am today were diverted to other airports, affecting around 4,000 passengers.
Bristol Airport said at 8am that flights had resumed, after they were suspended earlier today because of ‘the ongoing weather conditions’. One Ryanair flight from Kaunas in Lithuania to Bristol was diverted to Stansted during the suspension.
National Highways said three stretches of A-roads across England were shut today:
Wintry weather was also disrupting several train operators in England:
A critical incident was declared by East Midlands Ambulance for the first time ever, with flooding partly responsible for the ‘level of escalation’.
A major incident was also declared by authorities in Lincolnshire and Leicestershire last night, with a warning of more flooding today.
Lincolnshire Resilience Forum said 40 flood warnings and 29 flood alerts were in place across the county, with reports of 62 properties ‘internally flooded’.
‘We are keeping a really close watch on this as it develops because we know that there might potentially be more flooding, particularly in areas which may be affected by tidal waters,’ a statement said.
It also said emergency services were on standby at Greatford, near Stamford, to monitor the West Glen River, which it said threatened to inundate 49 properties in the area.
Murray Turner, a Liberal Democrat councillor at South Kesteven District Council in Lincolnshire, said people living in a flooding hotspot were ‘waiting for the next inevitable incident’.
Mr Turner told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that rescue operations had been going on ‘all day’ on Monday.
The area faced bad flooding at the end of 2023 and Mr Turner said Lincolnshire County Council had been expected to produce a section 19 report to explain the flooding and how agencies could work together to better deal with it in future.
‘Now, despite much pressure from the local parish councillors and myself as district councillor throughout 2024, those section 19 reports have never been received,’ Mr Turner said.
‘So what’s been happening is we’re waiting for the next inevitable flooding incident and it’s producing very bad scenes in the village. You’re walking through silty mud in your front room and you’ve got no power. It’s not very good at all.’
A caravan owner was rescued after floodwater stranded him in his home at Proctors Pleasure Park near Barrow upon Soar.
Four members of Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service were seen wading through deep water surrounding caravans this morning pulling an inflatable raft on which the man sat holding a blue carrier bag.
Bystanders watching the rescue said the flooding was the deepest they had seen.
Neil Monteith, 49, owns a caravan on the front row of the park, adding that he no longer lives in it but has ‘never seen’ the flooding this bad before.
He said: ‘(The water) is the highest I’ve seen it, I’ve never seen it this bad before.’
Mr Monteith added that he only keeps furniture inside but said that it is ‘more than likely’ damaged.
Firefighters in Leicestershire rescued 59 people, while the body of a man was recovered from an area of flooding in North Yorkshire.
Police said the man has been formally identified, but efforts to trace his next of kin were ongoing, adding that there are currently no suspicious circumstances surrounding the discovery.
At a Lincolnshire primary school, parents were told to stay away until the end of the day, with fire brigade vehicles ready to carry children through the flood waters.
Hundreds of schools were closed across the country, in areas including Lancashire, Yorkshire and North East Scotland.
In the Commons, environment minister Emma Hardy told MPs flooding was ‘a personal priority’ for her, adding that the Environment Agency was particularly concerned about Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire.
Warning of further ‘localised’ flooding to come over the next 24 to 36 hours, she pledged to overhaul the Government’s approach to funding flood defences ‘to ensure the challenges facing businesses and rural and coastal communities are taken into account when delivering flood protection’.