NOW Britain faces snow and ice chaos: Forecasters warn the white stuff will sweep most of UK tomorrow with flurries approaching London
- Met Office has issued severe yellow warnings for snow and ice from 10pm on Wednesday to midday Thursday
- Snow will reach the south east and London by tomorrow with up to four inches predicted for higher ground
- Comes after River Severn burst its banks and communities along the water were thrown into crisis by floods
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Storm-battered Britain faces more misery today and tomorrow when snow and ice is forecast to settle across large swathes of the country.
Met Office forecasters are warning of up to four inches of snow from the Shetland Islands down to Nottingham and across to Northern Ireland this evening.
On Thursday the snowfall will be even wider, with severe warnings reaching London, the south east and Wales and lasting until midday.
The first warning will expire at 10am on Thursday when the snow will turn to ice, causing traffic and train chaos across the network. Today high ground in Derbyshire and Wales are already covered in a blanket of white.
It comes after unprecedented rainfall caused flood defences to buckle along the River Severn, with Britain already experiencing 200 per cent of its normal February rainfall, with four more days of the month set to go.
Snow is pictured blanketing fields in Wardlow, Derbyshire today, with the Met Office warning of more to come later today and into Thursday
There is also snow around Pen y Fan mountain in the Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales, today, ahead of more tonight
High ground will experience up to four inches of snow, with some parts of Wales (Brecon Beacon National Park pictured) already covered
Oli Claydon, a spokesman for the Met Office, said western parts of the UK would see a pattern of sunshine and showers over Wednesday and Thursday.
He said the volume of rain would ordinarily ‘be nothing to be overly concerned about’, but added any further rain could have an impact on flooded communities.
‘In some of those regions through that period of rainfall, particularly into the Severn catchment, the total won’t necessarily be a huge amount but in any of those places that are seeing flooding, any further rain is not welcome,’ he said.
Mr Claydon said that most of the UK would be dry by Thursday evening, before more heavy rain moves in from the west on Friday.
‘In terms of impact, the main thing we are keeping an eye on now is Friday,’ he said. ‘That is another area of concern – there could be yellow rain warnings on Friday in terms of the accumulations that could be expected from that rainfall.’
He said south-west England, southern parts of Wales and north-west England were expected to see the most rain on Friday and into the weekend.
The Met Office has issued a warning for snow and ice covering large parts of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from 10pm on Wednesday to 10am on Thursday (left). There are also weather warnings in place for a larger area from midnight on Wednesday to midday on Thursday (right)