UK snow forecast predicts exact date 20cm snowdrift will hit Britain

Snow hits Bronte state astatine Leeming, adjacent Haworth, West Yorks connected Tuesday (Image: Glynn Beck/BPM Media)

Thick 20cm snowdrifts could blast Britain overnight into Wednesday arsenic icy conditions forced the closure of implicit 200 schools - with London feeling its archetypal freezing flurries.

Monday nighttime saw the mercury plunge sub-zero for overmuch of the UK and arsenic debased arsenic -11.2C astatine Braemar successful Aberdeenshire - the coldest nighttime since past wintertime struck.

Commuters faced chaos arsenic they tried to question into enactment with roads and obstruction affected by the crystal and blankets of powdery snow, thrilling immoderate schoolchildren who were told to enactment astatine home.

But connected Tuesday the Met Office had 5 snowfall and crystal warnings crossed Britain for Tuesday, astir moving into Wednesday, advising vehicles whitethorn extremity up stranded, powerfulness lines downed and agrarian areas chopped off.

By the Tuesday afternoon, 141 schoolhouse closures had been reported successful Wales, with 50 successful the West Midlands and 19 successful Derbyshire with 12cm of lying snowfall recorded astatine Watnall, Nottinghamshire arsenic an Arctic airmass waded into our weather.

Snow flurries deed Merseyside connected Tuesday (Image: Liverpool Echo)

The archetypal dense snowfall flurry of wintertime fell successful the superior arsenic wellness chiefs issued a acold upwind alert for the metropolis and overmuch of the remainder of the country.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued the archetypal amber acold upwind wellness alert of the season, informing conditions could beryllium unsafe for susceptible people, including the elderly.

The amber informing covers the eastbound and northbound of England, the Midlands, and Yorkshire and the Humber, with yellowish alerts coming into spot for the South East, South West and London until 6pm connected Saturday.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan activated exigency protocols to location unsmooth sleepers amid the plunging temperatures.

He said: "The abrupt driblet successful somesthesia means myself and London councils are activating our Severe Weather Emergency Protocol, opening up exigency accommodation crossed London.

"If you’re disquieted astir idiosyncratic sleeping rough, alert Street Link who tin assistance link them with section services."

While the Alzheimer’s Society warned that acold upwind tin beryllium "particularly challenging" for radical with dementia, saying: "Colder temperatures tin beryllium hard for a idiosyncratic with dementia to set to, and they whitethorn not ever beryllium capable to pass that they are acold – oregon they whitethorn not adjacent recognise it themselves."

Another acrophobic charity, Asthma + Lung UK, urged those with lung conditions to beryllium "extra careful".

Thousands of bid passengers connected Tuesday greeting unreserved hr suffered disruption with immoderate 64 retired of a full of 120 services planned by East Midlands Railway cancelled oregon delayed by astatine slightest fractional an hour.

A collision closed 2 lanes of the Dartford Crossing portion connected the Tube, the Piccadilly enactment was suspended betwixt Rayners Lane and Uxbridge owed to "significant leafage fall".

A Stagecoach autobus successful Aberdeenshire toppled onto its broadside with a rider connected committee successful icy conditions connected Tuesday greeting successful the New Leeds area.

A spokesperson for Stagecoach North Scotland said: “We tin corroborate that 1 of our vehicles operating connected work X67 has been progressive successful an incidental astatine New Leeds this greeting owed to crystal connected the road.

“One rider was connected board, and determination were nary injuries.”

Meanwhile the hunt for a missing teen who disappeared amid bitterly acold temperatures connected a Scottish land has intensified amid these further snowfall and crystal warnings

Aleksandr Benga, 16, has not been seen since helium went missing astir 8.45am connected Monday adjacent the h2o instrumentality successful the grounds of Lews Castle successful Stornoway connected the Isle of Lewis.

Police accidental they are progressively disquieted for the teen arsenic bitterly acold temperatures saw the mercury plunge, with the portion was handed a 42-hour upwind informing for snowfall and crystal until Wednesday.

Snowflakes autumn successful Merseyside connected Tuesday (Image: Liverpool Echo)

The Met Office pass that up to 10cm is apt successful immoderate parts of bluish England, with up to 20cm imaginable successful hilly areas of Scotland supra 300-metres.

Met Office Chief Meteorologist Neil Armstrong said: "With acold Arctic aerial firmly successful spot implicit the UK, continued wintertime hazards are apt done overmuch of this week, with further updates to warnings apt successful the coming days.

"The existent absorption for upcoming snowfall and crystal hazard is from aboriginal connected Tuesday and overnight into Wednesday, with snowfall showers apt moving successful disconnected windward coasts successful the northbound and east, arsenic good arsenic drifting into parts of Northern Ireland and Wales.

"In excess of 10cm of snowfall is imaginable implicit higher crushed wrong the informing areas, with 1-2cm perchance settling astatine little levels, which has the imaginable to pb to immoderate question disruption. Ice is an further hazard and is apt to signifier rapidly connected untreated surfaces."

The Met Office has issued 1 yellowish snowfall and crystal informing on the eastbound seashore of Scotland and England from Berwickshire to Suffolk from 6pm Tuesday to midday Wednesday.

A 2nd yellowish informing covers Northern Ireland from 6pm Tuesday to 10am Wednesday.

A 3rd covers the northbound of Scotland until 10am connected Wednesday and a 4th covers overmuch of cardinal and northbound Wales is successful spot from midnight until midday connected Wednesday.

A 5th snowfall and crystal informing expires astatine 11.59pm connected Tuesday and covered overmuch of cardinal and South Wales.

Looking ahead, the Met Office said acold northerly winds volition proceed done the week crossed overmuch of the UK, with further warnings likely.

It added that temperatures were apt to summation from the southwest this weekend, though this volition beryllium accompanied by immoderate beardown winds and dense rain.