UK weather: Snow warnings issued by Met Office as Brits brace for Storm Dennis' strong winds and heavy rain

Forecasters have issued a fresh weather warning for snow before strong winds and heavy rains are set to blight swathes of the UK this weekend.

The yellow warning for snow covers parts of northern England and Scotland from 2am on Thursday, with up to 8cm of snow possible.

The rest of the country will see a band of heavy rain sweeping northeastwards, freezing as it reaches northwest England and southwest Scotland.

Met Office Meteorologist Bonnie Diamond told the Standard: “The whole of the UK will see a lot of rain and blustery showers over the course of Thursday, with southern coastal areas seeing more strong winds and gales.

“Temperatures in Scotland won’t rise much above freezing, meaning the new snowfall will already build on areas that have already been hit by blizzards.”

It comes after mountain rescuers scrambled to save 12 people who got stranded in their cars in Dumfries and Galloway on Tuesday night.

Moffat Mountain Rescue Team sent two off-road vehicles to the A702 Dalveen Pass, north of Durisdeer village, battling through treacherous conditions to reach the victims.

The 12 were pulled from their cars and ferried to safety in the team’s Land Rover in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Moffat Mountain Rescue Team battle the snow to save 12 stranded motorists
PA

Meanwhile, Tweed Valley Mountain Rescue Team (TVMRT) also reported helping Police Scotland recover a vehicle which had slipped off a road at a “remote location” in the Scottish Borders on Tuesday evening.

The emergency volunteers struggled through “extreme blizzards” on a 2.4-mile (4km) hike during the operation.

TVMRT said they escorted a number of people to safety amid “some of the harshest conditions” they have seen.

Storm Ciara batters UK and Ireland - In pictures

1/35

Tomorrow’s new snow alert - in place between 2am and 11pm - comes ahead of Storm Dennis, which is set to batter Britain with a second consecutive weekend of wet and windy weather.

Gusts of 50mph are expected, with more than 60mph possible over hills, coastal areas and exposed locations, the Met Office said.

Predicted heavy rain could also run the risk of further flooding, with 43 warnings still in place in England, six in Scotland and one in Wales following recent heavy rainfall.

Around 730 properties are believed to have been affected by flooding in recent days, the Environment Agency said as it warned of more wet weather ahead when Dennis takes hold.

Caroline Douglass, flood duty manager at the agency, said: “River and surface water flooding is possible on Saturday into Sunday due to Storm Dennis and we are advising people to check their flood risk and to stay safe on the coast or when walking or driving near swollen rivers.”

She also warned people against taking “dangerous” so-called storm selfies.

Chief meteorologist Steve Ramsdale said: “Another spell of very wet and windy weather is expected for Saturday.

“Although Storm Dennis is currently not expected to be as severe as Ciara, disruption is still likely.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in