UK weather: Conditions to ‘get worse rather than better’, National Highways official warns
Met Office has yellow warnings for large swathes of the UK after Storm Larisa
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Your support makes all the difference.A new warning for snow, ice and sleet was extended for northern England on Saturday, with a National Highways official warning conditions could get “worse rather than better”.
The Met Office has yellow warnings in place covering large swathes of the UK after Storm Larisa battered areas with gales and blizzards.
The weather agency said clouds and rain will spread northeast across the UK and bring more snow over the high ground of the west and further north during the evening.
The wintry conditions will become much milder for the west and southwest.
By Saturday night, rain, sleet and snow will move northeast, with clear spells following from the west, the forecaster said.
There will be some respite on Sunday with bright or sunny spells elsewhere, but cloudy conditions will continue to increase in the west with heavy rain at times, the forecast said.
Andrew Page-Dove, operational control director for the National Highways, on Friday said weather conditions will deteriorate and there will be some very cold weather Friday overnight.
“So the conditions are actually going to get worse rather than better. But we will be continuously out there treating the roads and our intention is to keep the M62 open,” he said.
“We have well-rehearsed plans which we execute every time we have these types of events. It is purely the combination of volume of traffic and (drivers) maybe not being as well prepared for the conditions.”
Train and air travel will continue to remain affected.
Network Rail said multiple fallen trees had blocked lines between Manchester and Sheffield, meaning no trains could run.
Many train services were cancelled by train operators TransPennine Express and Northern while Merseyrail, which runs services in Merseyside and surrounding areas, delayed the start of its operations on Friday.
The majority of flights leaving from Liverpool John Lennon Airport were delayed on Friday morning. The East Midlands Airport was shut down for around three hours and flight operations were halted at Birmingham Airport for around an hour to clear snow from the runway.
Meanwhile, firefighters and emergency workers were called to a partial roof collapse at a flat in Longford Walk, Tulse Hill, south London.
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