Storm Bert is battering the country with strong winds, heavy rain and snow and ice with amber warnings coming into force bringing a “potential risk to life and property”.
Travel is widely disrupted with roads closed and some train routes cancelled throughout Saturday with rail companies urging passengers to avoid travelling to certain areas.
Winds of up to 68mph have been recorded and 13cm of snow has fallen in some parts of the country on Saturday morning, a Met Office spokesperson said, while 12 flood alerts are in place across the UK.
National Highways has issued a “severe weather alert” for snow affecting Yorkshire and north-east England with “blizzard conditions” expected and up to five hours of heavy snow set to “accumulate quickly at all levels”.
The Met Office has issued an amber warning for snow and ice for parts of Scotland and northern England, with a “good chance some rural communities could be cut off”.
Amber warnings mean there is the potential for risk to life and property.
“Travel delays on roads are likely, stranding some vehicles and passengers” the national weather service said.
The amber alert for heavy snow and ice is in force between 7am and 5pm on Saturday in areas across Scotland, where 10-20cm is likely on ground above 200 metres and potentially as much as 20-40cm on hills above 400 metres.
The warning covers parts of Angus, Perth and Kinross, Stirlingshire, Aberdeenshire and some of the Highlands, Argyll and Bute, the Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire.
In Yorkshire, the A628 remained closed overnight in both directions between the A616 Hollingworth and the A57 Flouch due to snow, National Highways announced. The A66 Trans-Pennine route was closed between the A6 and the M6 (J40).
Perth and Kinross Council cancelled its annual Perth Christmas lights switch-on event over safety and travel concerns.
Ferry operator DFDS has cancelled services on some routes until Monday with sailings from Newhaven to Dieppe and Dover to Calais being severely affected.
CalMac – a ferry operator which serves the west coast of Scotland – has cancelled several sailings on Saturday with disruption expected on many other services.
P&O Ferries said it had cancelled the 4am sailing between Larne in Northern Ireland and Cairnryan in Scotland’s south west on Saturday.
A second amber warning will be in place between 7am and midday on Saturday covering parts of Yorkshire and the North East of England.
Yellow wind, rain and snow warnings cover much of the rest of the UK on Saturday and into Sunday.
Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell said the effects of the storm would continue throughout the weekend.
“We expect the worst of the snow to pass by 12pm in Yorkshire but there will be some heavy rain and travelling conditions throughout the day will be pretty poor,” he said.
He told the PA news agency there was 13cm of snow measured in Leek in Staffordshire on Saturday morning and 68mph winds in Brixham, Devon.
“As milder weather comes in snow will melt, leading to pretty hazardous conditions,” Mr Snell said.
Over the weekend, Wales and the South West could see up to 75mm of rain widely, and potentially more than 100mm over the higher parts of South Wales and Dartmoor.
Strong winds are expected to strike the southern coast with gusts of more than 70mph in places.
Wind warnings cover Scotland from 5am until 7pm on Saturday.
Rain and snow warnings cover northern England from 4am to 9am and Northern Ireland from midnight on Friday until 11am on Saturday. Rain warnings cover much of Wales from 6am on Saturday until 6am on Sunday, and south-west England from 6am on Saturday until 11.45pm.
A wind warning also covers coastal areas of southern England and Wales from 9am on Saturday until 9pm on Sunday.
Avanti West Coast, which runs the West Coast mainline services, has cancelled its services north of Preston all day.
In Scotland, there are speed restrictions on the West Highland Line, Highland Mainline, Stranraer line, Glasgow South Western Line, Far North Line, and West Coast Mainline between Carstairs and the border.
ScotRail has withdrawn services from Inverness to Elgin, Aberdeen to Inverurie, and Glasgow Queen Street to Oban while trains from Glasgow Central to Carlisle will terminate at Dumfries.
South Western Rail (SWR) asked passengers to only travel west of Basingstoke if their journeys are essential.
SWR announced services between Exeter and London Waterloo will start and finish at Basingstoke, that journey times will be longer between Salisbury and Exeter and between Bournemouth and Weymouth due to speed restrictions, and services across its network will start later than usual on Sunday and Monday because of safety inspections.
TransPennine Express “strongly” urged customers not to travel north of Carlisle on Saturday while Avanti West Coast advised passengers not to travel north of Preston – including Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith, Carlisle, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
