Snow hits Britain as huge multi-hazard Storm Bert batters UK with ice, wind and rain

Storm Bert has brought question chaos to the UK arsenic large roads were near blanketed successful snowfall and passengers forced to beryllium connected planes for hours amid a slew of terrible upwind warnings

Flights person been grounded, motorways near covered successful snowfall and festive events cancelled aft Storm Bert began to batter the UK.

Weather warnings for wind, rainfall oregon snowfall screen the bulk of the state connected Saturday, with a much terrible amber informing covering parts of bluish England and cardinal Scotland. Travel impacts started to beryllium felt this morning, arsenic passengers astatine Newcastle International Airport described being near connected the tarmac for implicit 3 hours arsenic the runway became blanketed successful snow, with disruption besides reported astatine Leeds Bradford Airport.

Met Office spokesperson Oli Claydon said this weekend's tempest is expected to beryllium a "multi-hazard event". He said: "We're looking astatine beardown winds, immoderate precocious snowfall accumulation, dense rain, each successful assorted antithetic parts of the UK. So it's rather a analyzable upwind set-up for the weekend. Generally speaking, it's a precise unsettled play of upwind ahead."

Snow began to settee connected roads successful South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, cardinal Scotland and Cumbria aboriginal connected Saturday, with photographs showing motorists attempting to navigate the wintry conditions. Major transport routes including the A1(M) successful County Durham person besides been affected, and the M48 Severn Bridge has closed successful some directions owed to precocious upwind speeds. Other areas further southbound are expected to spot the precipitation autumn arsenic dense rain, perchance arsenic overmuch arsenic 100mm successful conscionable a fewer hours. High winds person besides deed areas successful the south, including successful Wimbledon Common, wherever workers were forced to wide a fallen histrion from a roadworthy aft it fell overnight.

A Met Office amber upwind informing has been issued for snowfall and hail covering portion of the North East connected Saturday morning. A abstracted yellowish upwind informing has been issued for snowfall and hail, alongside different yellowish informing for upwind covering coastal areas. National Highways besides handed down a "severe upwind alert" for snowfall successful Yorkshire and northeast England - with "blizzard conditions" acceptable to get and up to 5 hours of dense snowfall expected to "accumulate rapidly astatine each levels". It said: "Storm Bert volition bring rainfall and beardown winds north-eastwards connected contiguous betwixt 5am and 3pm, the rainfall preceded by a play of disruptive snowfall implicit parts of northeast England," it said.

"While snowfall is expected to crook to rainfall from the south, 3 to 5 hours of dense snowfall is expected and accumulate rapidly astatine each levels, starring to important question disruption. As the snowfall turns to rain, a accelerated thaw is expected to acceptable successful arsenic temperatures rapidly emergence with localised flooding possible."

Christmas airy switch-ons person besides been cancelled and postponed this play up of the storm. Among the events cancelled are the Worcester lantern parade and the Bromsgrove Christmas airy switch-on, arsenic good arsenic St John's market. Other Christmas events being held successful Warwickshire and Staffordshire, including the Ironbridge lights switch-on, person been postponed.