Map reveals the place blizzard will hit over subsequent few days as Met Office points snow warnings for swathes of England and Wales – together with the south

Much of Britain will be hit by further heavy snow this week, after the Met Office today issued fresh weather warnings running until the end of Wednesday.

A new yellow snow and ice warning for South West England, the West Midlands, the North West and much of Wales will be active from 5pm today until 10am tomorrow.

This warns of icy stretches developing this evening and further snow on the way with up to 2cm (0.8in) at lower levels and 5cm (2in) above 200m (650ft) in Wales.

A second new snow warning was also announced by the Met Office today for southern England, including South London, on Wednesday from 9am to midnight.

Forecasters said up to 5cm (2in) could accumulate fairly widely, and as much as 10cm (4in) on higher ground, especially over east or northeast-facing slopes.

There is also a new snow and ice warning for northern Scotland from 4pm today until midday tomorrow, and in Northern Ireland from 3pm today until 11am tomorrow. 

In addition, officials at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) have extended their amber cold weather health alert for all of England until at least noon this Sunday.

The alerts had originally been imposed until Wednesday amid continued fears over ‘significant impacts across health and social care services’ over the coming days.

It comes as many commuters suffered travel disruption today – with major roads closed, railway lines blocked and Manchester Airport‘s runway closed for a time.

Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service declared a major incident in response to flooding after it received more than 200 calls this morning and rescued 17 people. 

The AA had already branded today ‘Miserable Monday’ with the motoring group expecting up to 20 distress calls a minute as many workers head back to the office after two weeks off – with some having not used their car before Christmas. 

Meanwhile tens of thousands of children across England had their Christmas break extended by a day as more than 500 schools were closed amid the severe weather. 

It comes as many commuters today suffered travel disruption from severe weather, with major roads closed and railway lines blocked.

Manchester airport’s runways were closed early this morning because of heavy snow but have since reopened.

Britain also had its coldest night of winter so far, with the temperature dropping to -13.3C (8.1F) at Loch Glascarnoch in the Highlands, but it was much milder in South East England with St James’s Park in London at 11.4C (52.5F) early this morning. 

The Environment Agency has issued 166 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, and 299 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible, across England.

In Wales, there are three flood warnings and 34 flood alerts.

Sonia Wheatley, a support worker from Loughborough in the East Midlands who missed work today due to flooding on the roads, said it is the worst she has seen in the area.

Mrs Wheatley, 52, whose husband also missed work, said: ‘I’ve never missed work before because of the weather.

‘Last year when it flooded, I managed to get through the floods, but it’s never been this bad.’

Mrs Wheatley left earlier this morning in anticipation of the flooding but said the water became too high to risk going through.

‘There’s no rain at the moment, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to get through tomorrow,’ she added.

Thousands of journeys on the M25 in Surrey were being delayed as the motorway was closed in the anti-clockwise direction from junction 10 for the A3 to junction eight for Reigate after a lorry crashed into the central reservation and came to a rest sideways across the carriageway.

The M5 in Gloucestershire was closed southbound from junction 11A for Gloucester to junction 12 for Quedgeley because of extensive flooding.

Several stretches of A-roads across England were also closed because of severe weather.

These include:

• The A66 in Cumbria in both directions between the A1M and the M6 because of snow.
• The A628 Woodhead Pass in South Yorkshire/Derbyshire in both directions between the A616 for Flouch and the A57 for Hollingworth because of flooding.
• The A49 in Herefordshire in both directions between the A4112 for Stockton and the A44 for Leominster because of flooding.

The A46 in Warwickshire was also closed in both directions between the A452 for Kenilworth and the M40 (junction 15) because of a crash.

National Highways said ‘a car is reported to have aquaplaned due to flooding in the area’.

Aquaplaning is when a driver loses control because a layer of water prevents their tyres from gripping the road.

Severe weather was also causing widespread disruption on the railway network.

Flooding forced the closure of all railway lines between Derby and both Nottingham and East Midlands Parkway.

This was affecting CrossCountry and East Midlands Railway services.

The operators were also disrupted by flooding closing all lines between Peterborough and Leicester.

Southeastern trains were unable to run from Ramsgate or Margate towards London via Canterbury West because of a fallen tree.

Great Western Railway said its trains between Bristol Parkway and Gloucester were running at a reduced speed because of ‘heavy rain flooding the railway’.

TransPennine Express said severe weather was causing the same issue for its services between Barnetby and Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire.

Flooding meant Transport for Wales services between Manchester and North Wales were only able to operate between Warrington Bank Quay and Manchester.

Manchester Airport said at 7.15am that its two runways had reopened, after reporting at 6.30am that they were closed because of ‘heavy snow’.

Three departures for today have been cancelled and a number of other flights are delayed.

Most of the UK saw heavy snow or icy rainfall over the weekend.

Major airports closed their runways for several hours due to heavy snow, while there were stranded vehicles and collisions which blocked key roads across northern England.

Cold air will return and remain across the whole country from today onwards after a brief spell of milder conditions in southern areas, the Met Office said.

The RAC said today would be the busiest day of the winter so far for vehicle breakdowns because of severe weather.

RAC spokesman Rod Dennis said: ‘Today will undoubtedly be the busiest of the winter so far and our patrols are working exceptionally hard rescuing thousands of our members in difficult conditions. Waiting times will be longer as a result.

‘The impact of the weather, and the fact many people are using their vehicles for the first time after a festive break, means we’re expecting to be 80% busier than normal.

‘At our peak today, we will be dealing with upwards of 20 new breakdowns every minute.

‘We urge drivers who know their vehicles are slow to start to book in a mobile mechanic or reliable local garage as soon as possible as it may mean a new battery is required.

‘Conditions are especially challenging due to heavy rain and snowmelt causing flooding across the country.’

More than 27,000 homes and businesses across Yorkshire and the North East of England lost power during the cold snap, network operators Northern Powergrid said.

The firm said its teams have worked around the clock to restore electricity supplies to all but around 100 customers by lunchtime today.

A spokesperson said: ‘Our network continued to be impacted by the wintry weather conditions overnight, leading to customers predominately across Yorkshire and Northumberland experiencing power cuts. We want to thank our customers for their patience.

‘We understand how difficult a power cut can be, particularly in these conditions, and our teams will continue to work until all of our customers’ power is back on.’