UK red weather warning: Met Office issues highest snow alert for south west and Scotland as commuters face misery with scores of stations shut

The UK's red alert for snow grew today as forecasters issued their highest possible warning for another part of the country as Storm Emma held the country in its icy grasp.

The Met Office warned of heavy snow, blizzard conditions and very strong easterly winds hitting the south west.

The National Grid has also issued a “gas deficit” warning sparking fears that supplies could run empty.

Some areas were expected to see freezing rain on Thursday night. Commuters were warned of long delays and cancellations of public transport.

Forecasters said roads in the south west are likely to become blocked by deep snow, stranding vehicles and passengers.

UK Weather: Beast from the East freeze - In pictures

1/64

There were also warnings of power, gas and water outages and danger from falling trees and other structures due to snow and ice.

The Met Office has expanded its red weather warning to the south west of England

The National Grid warned the country's gas supplies were running at a deficit as supply fell 50m cubic short of expected demand on Thursday.

Britain covered in snow in a satellite image taken yesterday afternoon
University of Dundee

A red alert is already in place for parts of Scotland.

It came as some fifty stations were shut in Kent and London.

Londoners brave the icy conditions in Westminster today
Jeremy Selwyn

Temperatures plunged to a widespread low of between -6C and -4C overnight, and forecasters have warned it could feel as cold as -11C during the day as the winds continue to strengthen.

London is expected to be hit with further heavy snow this morning as Storm Emma, rolling in from the Atlantic, meets the Beast from the East's chilly Russia air.

The rest of the UK is braced for more "blizzard-like" conditions.

Southeastern Railway has announced the closure of some 50 stations, including Bromley North and Albany Park in south-east London, amid the bitter chill.

The train company has advised passengers to work from home or postpone their journeys if possible.

A spokesman said: “We’ll be running a modified timetable to provide a more reliable service for our passengers.

Londoners share incredible pictures of sunrise in the snow

1/23

“This will mean reduced services on some lines, the closure of some stations and changes to the times of those trains that are running.

"We're advising our passengers, if they can, to work from home or postpone their journey, and if they do decide to make their journey, to allow themselves extra time and make sure you check before they travel.”

There are 50 station closures across Kent (Southeastern)

Other train services, including South Western Railway and c2c, are running an amended timetable.

Greater Anglia has tweeted that it is expecting disruption while Southern says it is hoping to run a normal service on most routes.

Paddington Station was closed from 8am today owing to the severe weather conditions. Trains from the west country were only travelling as far as Reading.

Meanwhile more disruption is expected at London’s airports, with Gatwick Airport expecting "a large number of cancellations and delays to flights".

London City Airport tweeted this morning advising passengers to check the status of their flights before travelling.

Elsewhere in the UK, as winds picked up overnight, drifting snow caused misery for many motorists, with some parts recording accumulations up to a foot deep.

In Lincolnshire, police said the A52 had become impassable between Boston and Skegness, and warned that officers would not be able to rescue stuck drivers.

Not even a snowplough was able to get through, the fire service said.

There was also misery for drivers in Scotland – where the highest level of weather warning, a red alert, remains in place until 10am on Thursday.

Motorists on the M80 near Glasgow reported being stuck for up to 13 hours, with some spending the night in their cars, and others abandoning their vehicles on the motorway.

Gusts of up to 60mph could also bring "blizzard-like conditions".

As well as the red alert – which has never before been issued for Scotland, England or Northern Ireland – amber warnings have also been issued for the north east of England and the central belt of Scotland, in place between 10am and 8pm on Thursday, and for south west England and south Wales from 12pm until 8am on Friday.

On top of these, yellow snow warnings have been issued for vast swathes of southern, central, and northern England, Northern Ireland and Wales - in place for most of Thursday.

Met Office forecaster Simon Partridge said some parts of the south west could see up to 50cm of snow by Friday morning.

"If you don't have to go anywhere over the next few days, stay at home," he warned.

Met Eireann, the Irish meteorological service warned of blizzards, severe thunderstorms and coastal flooding after issuing a red alert for the whole of the country.

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