Storm Bert batters UK with wind, rain and snow

Storm Bert is battering the state with beardown winds, dense rainfall and snowfall and crystal with amber warnings coming into unit bringing a “potential hazard to beingness and property”.

Travel is wide disrupted with roads closed and immoderate bid routes cancelled passim Saturday with obstruction companies urging passengers to debar travelling to definite areas.

Winds of up to 68mph person been recorded and 13cm of snowfall has fallen successful immoderate parts of the state connected Saturday morning, a Met Office spokesperson said, portion 12 flood alerts are successful spot crossed the UK.

National Highways has issued a “severe upwind alert” for snowfall affecting Yorkshire and north-east England with “blizzard conditions” expected and up to 5 hours of dense snowfall acceptable to “accumulate rapidly astatine each levels”.

The Met Office has issued an amber informing for snowfall and crystal for parts of Scotland and bluish England, with a “good accidental immoderate agrarian communities could beryllium chopped off”.

Amber warnings mean determination is the imaginable for hazard to beingness and property.

“Travel delays connected roads are likely, stranding immoderate vehicles and passengers” the nationalist upwind work said.

The amber alert for dense snowfall and crystal is successful unit betwixt 7am and 5pm connected Saturday successful areas crossed Scotland, wherever 10-20cm is apt connected crushed supra 200 metres and perchance arsenic overmuch arsenic 20-40cm connected hills supra 400 metres.

The informing covers parts of Angus, Perth and Kinross, Stirlingshire, Aberdeenshire and immoderate of the Highlands, Argyll and Bute, the Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire.

In Yorkshire, the A628 remained closed overnight successful some directions betwixt the A616 Hollingworth and the A57 Flouch owed to snow, National Highways announced. The A66 Trans-Pennine way was closed betwixt the A6 and the M6 (J40).

Perth and Kinross Council cancelled its yearly Perth Christmas lights switch-on lawsuit implicit information and question concerns.

Ferry relation DFDS has cancelled services connected immoderate routes until Monday with sailings from Newhaven to Dieppe and Dover to Calais being severely affected.

CalMac – a ferry relation which serves the westbound seashore of Scotland – has cancelled respective sailings connected Saturday with disruption expected connected galore different services.

P&O Ferries said it had cancelled the 4am sailing betwixt Larne successful Northern Ireland and Cairnryan successful Scotland’s southbound westbound connected Saturday.

A 2nd amber informing volition beryllium successful spot betwixt 7am and midday connected Saturday covering parts of Yorkshire and the North East of England.

Yellow wind, rainfall and snowfall warnings screen overmuch of the remainder of the UK connected Saturday and into Sunday.

Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell said the effects of the tempest would proceed passim the weekend.

“We expect the worst of the snowfall to walk by 12pm successful Yorkshire but determination volition beryllium immoderate dense rainfall and travelling conditions passim the time volition beryllium beauteous poor,” helium said.

He told the PA quality bureau determination was 13cm of snowfall measured successful Leek successful Staffordshire connected Saturday greeting and 68mph winds successful Brixham, Devon.

“As milder upwind comes successful snowfall volition melt, starring to beauteous hazardous conditions,” Mr Snell said.

Over the weekend, Wales and the South West could spot up to 75mm of rainfall widely, and perchance much than 100mm implicit the higher parts of South Wales and Dartmoor.

Strong winds are expected to onslaught the confederate seashore with gusts of much than 70mph successful places.

Wind warnings screen Scotland from 5am until 7pm connected Saturday.

Rain and snowfall warnings screen bluish England from 4am to 9am and Northern Ireland from midnight connected Friday until 11am connected Saturday. Rain warnings screen overmuch of Wales from 6am connected Saturday until 6am connected Sunday, and south-west England from 6am connected Saturday until 11.45pm.

A upwind informing besides covers coastal areas of confederate England and Wales from 9am connected Saturday until 9pm connected Sunday.

Avanti West Coast, which runs the West Coast mainline services, has cancelled its services northbound of Preston each day.

In Scotland, determination are velocity restrictions connected the West Highland Line, Highland Mainline, Stranraer line, Glasgow South Western Line, Far North Line, and West Coast Mainline betwixt Carstairs and the border.

ScotRail has withdrawn services from Inverness to Elgin, Aberdeen to Inverurie, and Glasgow Queen Street to Oban portion trains from Glasgow Central to Carlisle volition terminate astatine Dumfries.

South Western Rail (SWR) asked passengers to lone question westbound of Basingstoke if their journeys are essential.

SWR announced services betwixt Exeter and London Waterloo volition commencement and decorativeness astatine Basingstoke, that travel times volition beryllium longer betwixt Salisbury and Exeter and betwixt Bournemouth and Weymouth owed to velocity restrictions, and services crossed its web volition commencement aboriginal than accustomed connected Sunday and Monday due to the fact that of information inspections.

TransPennine Express “strongly” urged customers not to question northbound of Carlisle connected Saturday portion Avanti West Coast advised passengers not to question northbound of Preston – including Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith, Carlisle, Glasgow and Edinburgh.