Snow, rain and wind set to cause travel disruption for new year festivities
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Heavy snow, rain and wind are set to hit the UK, causing travel disruption over New Year’s Eve and the majority of next week. The Met Office has issued multiple weather warnings between Monday and Thursday, with nearly all of the country impacted by at least one alert.
Ahead of new year celebrations, a warning for wind is in place on Monday where gusts of up to 60mph could impact travellers between 11am and 6pm in areas including Durham, Northumberland, Cumbria and North Yorkshire. In England and Northern Ireland, gusts of up to 70mph may lead to travel disruption on December 31, with delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport all likely, the forecaster has warned.
An alert for wind is in place from 7am until 11pm on Tuesday and covers most of Northern Ireland, including Londonderry, Tyrone, Antrim and Armagh, as well as just north of York in England up to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Greenock. For those celebrating Hogmanay, heavy downpours and snowfall may cause “significant disruption” across northern Scotland, with up to 140mm of rainfall on Monday and Tuesday.
Up to 20cm of snow may blanket areas of higher ground while strong winds have the potential to “exacerbate impacts”, creating “blizzard conditions” which could freeze powerlines. A warning has also been issued for “persistent snow” likely to cause road disruption in Orkney and Shetland from 5am onwards on Tuesday.
