The UK has experienced a drop in temperature, with parts of the country seeing up to 15cm of snowfall causing travel disruption. Yellow weather warnings are in place for snow and ice across the north west of England, the Midlands, the south, and parts of Wales and Scotland. Drivers in Cumbria have reported being stuck in stop-start traffic for up to 19 hours without access to food or water. Emergency services have declared a “major incident” and urged people not to travel on Sunday unless absolutely necessary.
Ant Brett, who was travelling to Cumbria for a family wedding, spent 19 hours in his car and was unable to make it to the event. He explained that he had run out of food and water, and had received no assistance from emergency services or other organisations. Similarly, Paul Smith was stuck on a local road towards Ambleside for several hours after experiencing delays on the M6 motorway.
Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service has been using 4×4 vehicles to help vulnerable people stuck in the snow and has also set up reception centres to assist those in need. The police have reported that a number of roads have become impassable due to the snow, with the M6 southbound motorway between junctions 38 and 37 blocked on Saturday due to jack-knifed lorries, and the A595 between Millom and Furness becoming completely impassable.
The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for ice until 11 am on Sunday. In the south, a yellow weather warning for ice is also in place until 8 am for London, the east of England, the West Midlands, and parts of south Wales. Additionally, the UK Health Security Agency has issued an amber cold-health alert for five regions in England, stating that cold weather is likely to affect the entire health service, with the potential for the entire population to be at risk.
Over the weekend, heavy snowfall has also led to significant disruption across Europe, with Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic experiencing train and flight cancellations due to a predicted 30-40cm of snowfall
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