Now Met Office warns temperatures could plunge to minus DOUBLE digits as UK braces for ‘hard’ month

The UK has been warned to brace for a bleak month ahead as the Met Office warns of an approaching cold snap which could see temperatures in the double digits below freezing, while thousands in Sheffield remained without gas for a fifth day on Wednesday. 

The Met Office today said a brutal blast of Arctic air from Norway could whip through the country for at least a week. Dubbed the ‘Troll of Trondheim’, it could arrive as early as tonight and will see snow showers and ice form across large parts of Britain – with temperatures expected to fall to around -10C by the weekend.

In London, mayor Sadiq Khan agreed to implement emergency planning which includes sheltering homeless people in the capital against the severe weather.

It comes as an avalanche of strikes are scheduled in the run up to Christmas including by Royal Mail staff, rail unions, NHS nurses and paramedics. 

There are currently yellow weather warnings in place into Friday as the Met Office predicts icy conditions with overnight double-digit sub zero temperatures in exposed parts of the UK could last for at least a week. 

Up to four inches of snow are predicted to fall this week above 650ft with temperatures set to plummet. 

But forecasters warned even at lower levels, the mercury will drop and up to 2in of snow could fall. A strong northerly wind is also likely to produce ‘drifting and blizzard conditions’ in some areas, according to meteorologists.

It comes as public health chiefs today urged people to prioritise heating their living rooms during the day to survive the cold.

The UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) said main rooms should be kept to at least 18C to avoid dangerous conditions amid fears cost of living pressures will stop households from turning on the central heating even with temperatures reaching -10C.

Racing has been cancelled at Hexham, Northumbria due to the cold, with further disruption for sports and on the public transport system expected in the coming days. 

Meanwhile around 2,000 households in the Stannington area of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, remained without hot water and heating for a fifth day today after water flooded gas pipes.

Cadent have handed out around 2,000 electric heaters so far and has already pumped 600,000 litres of water out of the system.

Stannington resident Tim Jones, who has lived in the area all his life, said ‘it’s been an incident waiting to happen’ and added: ‘We think we’ve been let down by Yorkshire Water.’

Mr Jones said he has been looking after his 78-year-old mother who is recovering from cancer in her maisonette.

He said: ‘She could really do without it due to her chemotherapy. There’s no gas, no heating.’

Mr Jones said: ‘I know Sheffield City Council has made it a national emergency and the Red Cross have been drafted in. When the Red Cross get drafted in, it’s usually a serious incident.’

Other residents have described taking serious measures to keep warm. Retired electrician David Oldfield, 79, said: ‘We lost gas on Friday. The first I knew was when the gas fire went off. I thought the gas fire was faulty at first and I went to bed.

‘But then I looked at the boiler and it said ‘error’ ‘reset’ – but it wouldn’t reset.

‘We have been given a couple of electric heaters from the council, but we have no hot water or central heating.

‘I’m just wearing extra layers of clothing to help keep warm, but it is far from ideal at this time of year. It would happen in the middle of winter rather [than] in the boiling hot summer we had.’

Vernon and Vandals Lee, in their 60s, woke early on Saturday morning to find water gushing from the gas hob in their kitchen.

They called out an emergency plumber at a cost of £280 to tackle the problem before learning of the cause.

Retired greengrocer Vernon is suffering from Parkinson’s Disease and, as a vulnerable person, their insurance company has insisted that they must stop in a hotel for the next fortnight.

Vandals said: ‘The kitchen floor was under half an inch of water, with water gushing out of the hob.

‘It was like a waterfall over the kitchen units. It was the worst weekend of our lives. I felt physically sick.

‘At least in a hotel we can get a warm shower.

‘It has been horrible, we have spent all the time mopping up – it has been panic stations.’

Gemma Hilton, 40, her husband Michael, 43, and daughter Lola, ten, woke in the middle of the night to find the street swarming with Cadent NS Yorkshire Water vans.

Gemma, who runs a cleaning company, said: ‘We have found the whole situation horrendous.

‘Water has been pouring out of gas appliances and coming out of the ground and even gushing out of street lamps.

‘Our gas supply has been intermittent. But it has been off more than on. We have had no hot water and it keeps showing a fault on the boiler.

‘The Cadent people have been absolutely amazing, I’m delivering pizzas to them tonight to say thank you. It has been very, very cold.’

Paul Wright, 52, said: ‘I woke up on Saturday to find the boiler off and my house perishingly cold.

‘I’ve been without hot water and heating for five days and only just getting things back to normal now.

‘I had no cooking, heating or drying facilities. I had to borrow a hot plate and an electric heater.’

Elsewhere, desperate families are taking drastic measures to stay warm such as spending the day in only one room, only turning on the heating once a week, and covering walls with cardboard to serve as temporary insulation.

One family living in rural Oxfordshire sent MailOnline a photo of their living room which shows a pot of pasta warming up on a wood burner, which is also surrounded by drying clothes.

The Met Office has extended Wednesday’s yellow weather warnings into Thursday and Friday, with ice in coastal and northern England, with both snow and ice expected in northern Scotland.

There is also a risk of wintry snow showers extending across the north and west of England, while freezing fog is also expected to develop by the weekend.

Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said: ‘We are in this pattern for seven days at least.

‘We could see it continue for a while longer, there’s uncertainty in the evolution and how long it will last.

‘However, the pattern for the next seven days is that it will remain cold and we will see double-digit minus figures overnight in areas that are prone to frosts and areas where there is lying snow.’

There was no expectation of widespread heavy snow, but wintry showers were expected during the cold spell, particularly on higher ground and by the coast, Mr Madge said.

Cold air from the north tended to contain less moisture than from the west, meaning less cloud cover and therefore lower overnight temperatures.

Mr Madge said although this will be a cold snap, it will not be as tough as the ‘hard December’ of 2010.

That winter, Britain faced record-breaking amounts of snow fall and average temperatures throughout the month slipped to a record -1C.

The punishingly cold weather comes as a wave of strikes is set to hit the UK in the run up to Christmas, bringing the nation to a grinding halt.

As well as further misery for commuters with days of rail and bus strikes, NHS nurses and paramedics are also due to walk out for several days, with fears that soldiers will have to be drafted in to cover gaps in care.

Members of the RMT and ASLEF rail unions will strike amid a long-running dispute over pay and pensions.

Meanwhile Royal Mail staff will also strike on six different days in December at one of the busiest times of the year.

Eurostar staff, airport ground crews, paramedics, border force staff, driving examiners and teachers are also due to walk out before the New Year.

The Met Office itself has become the latest public body to join the walkouts with forecasters set to announce backing for industrial action this week. 

Even more professions including midwifery, junior doctors and firefighters are due to ballot on strike action for January. 

Earlier today, the PM told the House of Commons he would get ‘tough’ on unions calling strikes in a deepening row over public sector pay and conditions.

But any legislative changes like tightening strike laws would come too late to avert action this month.

Downing Street was also forced to deny it was simply posturing this afternoon when it refused to give any details of changes it could make to ease the festive gloom felt by families across the country.

In Stannington those strikes seem a world away as Cadent crews and contractors were working on virtually every street by Wednesday in an effort to fix the gas problems.

The company said it had managed to reconnect some properties and was working through a series of zones.

More than 100 engineers from Cadent have been working in Stannington and neighbouring Hillsborough since the weekend, going house to house to flush water out of the system and check homes, some of which saw liquid pouring from their gas meters and appliances.

Sheffield City Council leader Terry Fox said: ‘Over the weekend we were alerted to a contained situation and have been assisting Cadent as best we can.

‘Since then, the incident has progressed and spread further across the city.

‘With a colder spell due in the coming days it is important we and other organisations across the city collaborate to ensure all the residents affected are provided with the support they require, especially the most vulnerable.

‘By declaring a major incident, we will be better able to co-ordinate the overall response to the issues and call on additional support if needed.’

Mr Fox visited Stannington with council chief executive Kate Josephs.

Ms Josephs said community buildings, including a pub, were available for those struggling to keep warm.

She told BBC Radio Sheffield: ‘We’d really encourage anyone who is concerned to call Cadent.

‘Nobody should be sitting at home worrying about putting their heaters on.’

She added: ‘It is getting chilly. We’re doing everything we can and Cadent are working tirelessly through day and night to get the water out of the pipes and get the heating back on.’

As temperatures dipped below freezing late on Tuesday, Sheffield City Council declared a major incident in a bid to avert further issues for residents.

Olivia Blake, Labour MP for Sheffield Hallam, said she has asked Chancellor Jeremy Hunt for emergency funding. 

‘My heart goes out to all those affected – this is a terrible thing to happen at any time, let alone weeks before the holiday season’, she said.

The MP added: ‘I have further meetings planned with Yorkshire Water and I am in ongoing talks with the leadership of the council on getting support to residents.

‘I have also spoken directly with the Chancellor of the Exchequer urging him to provide emergency funding to the council and have written to him formally, alongside the secretaries of state for business, for the environment, and for levelling-up, to request urgent assistance.

‘My heart goes out to all those affected – this is a terrible thing to happen at any time, let alone weeks before the holiday season.’

Meanwhile in London, homeless people are to be sheltered with temperatures set to plummet below freezing.

All boroughs have committed to the Mayor’s ‘In for Good’ principle, meaning no one will be asked to leave accommodation until a support plan is in place to end their rough sleeping, regardless of an increase in temperature.

Latest figures show the number of people sleeping rough in London has jumped 24 per cent in the past year, with more than 3,600 sleeping on the capital’s streets between June and September. Rough sleeping services are also helping more people than ever before.

Mr Khan said: ‘Too many people are facing a freezing winter on the streets of the capital without the safe, secure accommodation they need.

‘Across the capital, we are doing everything we can to prevent anyone sleeping rough in these freezing conditions as we work to build a fairer and safer London for everyone.

‘I am also encouraging Londoners to download the Streetlink app or use the Streetlink website to connect people they see sleeping rough with local support services. 

‘London’s councils and charities will be working even harder this week to support some of the most vulnerable people in our city.’ 

The scheme operates when temperatures drop to below freezing.

The Met Office also warned Scots to expect ‘some injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces’ and ‘some icy patches on some untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths’.

Senior meteorologist Alex Burkhill said: ‘The warning will affect the northern third of Scotland.

‘We have a cold northerly wind with plenty of showers and as the temperature drops this will fall as snow. It is going to be pretty horrible conditions, with temperatures dropping overnight and remaining cold in the day.’

He added: ‘Areas which do see snow fall can expect some blizzards due to that strong northerly wind. 

‘Because there are showers forecast, there could be some parts within the warning area that don’t actually see snowfall, but there is a pretty significant risk there will be something.’

Road maintenance team Bear NW Trunk Roads said it was working ’round the clock’ to ensure routes remain open.

A statement from the organisation said: ‘We will have 29 gritters out making sure the roads are safe from 2pm today and will have a further 18 patrolling the routes to make sure they stay safe.’

Bosses at Glencoe Mountain Resort in Argyll have spent the past few weeks manufacturing snow ahead of the sledging season, which reopens tomorrow.

The Met Office said it expected conditions to remain cold into next week with temperatures remaining ‘well below average for the time of year’.

Its deputy chief meteorologist, Rebekah Sherwin, admitted: ‘More severe weather warnings could be needed as we head through the week.’

People should expect snow showers and ice to cause travel disruption and a risk of slippery surfaces.

Warnings will remain in place until tomorrow afternoon, but the cold weather will not begin to shift until early next week.

The charity Age UK has advised maintaining a supply of food and medicine to reduce the number of outdoor trips and torches with spare batteries in case of a power cut.

The Met Office’s long range forecast suggests that the cold snap may not last until Christmas and the New Year, when it could get milder – although wetter and windier in southern and western areas. 

The long-range forecast predicts that the north and east are ‘most likely to hold on to colder conditions for longest’.

Downing Street said it is confident that the UK has sufficient energy supplies, as the country braces for severe cold weather in the coming days.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: ‘The UK has a diverse energy supply via renewables or otherwise. So we are confident we have diverse supply.’

He said the Government had never sought to be ‘prescriptive’ with advice for the public.

‘The Government has for some time now provided advice to the public should they wish to find ways to save energy – that’s available in the Help for Households website.’

He added that the Government would be launching a campaign to ‘further boost’ that information.

The Met Office’s cold weather alert system operates in England from November 1 to March 31 in association with the UKHSA.

The system has five levels of response based on cold weather thresholds, designed to trigger an alert when severe cold weather is likely to significantly affect people’s health.