Brits told 'brace' for New Year's disruption as weather warnings blanket country
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The UK is gearing up for what meteorologists call an "unsettled" start to 2025, with the approach of heavy snow, rain, and wind threatening to throw New Year's travel into chaos. The nation finds itself blanketed by a series of severe weather warnings from the Met Office stretching from Monday to Thursday, impacting almost every region.
Scotland will feel the brunt initially, set to endure "pulses of rain" alongside snowfalls on Monday, while northern England braces for gale-force winds roaring at speeds up to 60mph. Motorists and commuters be warned: A weather warning for strong winds on Monday between 11am and 6pm covers Durham, Northumberland, Cumbria, and North Yorkshire, foreshadowing potential impacts on travel.
Over in southern England and Wales, milder conditions prevail, seeing temperatures peak at 10 to 12C, coupled with pockets of sunshine piercing through less turbulent skies. But come New Year's Eve, it's advisable to stay vigilant—the relentless winds are expected to escalate, possibly hitting 70mph in parts of England and Northern Ireland, leading to likely delays across various transport modes, as cautioned by weather experts.
The wind alert stands from 7am until the festive hours of 11pm on Tuesday, encompassing swathes of Northern Ireland such as Londonderry, Tyrone, Antrim and Armagh, and reaching from just north of York all the way to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Greenock in Scotland. Amid Hogmanay celebrations, Scots, in particular, are faced with the prospect of "significant disruption" given predictions of intense downpours and snow, with the Highlands preparing for a deluge that could top 140mm across Monday and Tuesday.
