Snow brings chaos across large parts of UK as winter tightens its grip

Prepare for a week of unsettled weather.

Large parts of the UK are set to be covered in snow this week while other areas continue to be hit by devastating floods.

Drivers in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England have been told to expect disruption and to leave extra time for their morning commutes.

Further south, an imminent danger to life flood warning has been issued for the River Severn in Shrewsbury, as water is expected to carry on seeping into homes and businesses.

The Environment Agency warned of ongoing flooding dangers after a third consecutive weekend of storms, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson defying calls to visit stricken areas.

This morning Britons have woken up to find their streets and gardens caked in snow after heavy falls last night.

Met Office forecaster Marco Petagna warned commuters to monitor the conditions for hazards, saying: ‘At the moment we’re seeing ice and frost overnight most nights, and there are going to be a lot of icy patches around this morning. People need to keep an eye out.’

The forecaster said there would be a temperature disparity on Monday as the mercury hovered around a ‘quite mild’ 11-12C in the south of the UK and dipping to -6C in northern Scotland.

Mr Petagna said rain and snow were expected to push north and east across the country ‘before giving way to some brighter weather’ across the south and west of Britain later in the day.

The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for snow across all but the most northern areas of Scotland and Aberdeen until 10pm today.

A spokesperson said: ‘Here, two to five centimetres of snow is likely above 100 to 200 metres whilst above 300 metres 10 to 20cm snow may build up.’

Higher ground is expected to see significant accumulations but commuters in the Central Belt have been warned to take care.

Met Office forecaster Simon Partridge said: ‘It could be a pretty tricky commute first thing tomorrow for a lot of people. It’s certainly turning more wintry.’

Mr Partridge said Northern Ireland and parts of northern England are also expected to see snow, especially on higher ground where yellow weather warnings have been issued.

Even areas of the north that dodge the snow are still likely to be hit by heavy rain and gale force winds.

As well as the severe flood warning for Shrewsbury, the Environment Agency (EA) had issued 92 flood warnings and 182 flood alerts this morning.

Alerts were in place from Cornwall to the Norfolk coast and from Dorset to the Scottish border.

An EA spokesman said ongoing flooding is possible for parts of the West Midlands, along the Severn and Wye and also in parts of northern England including the lower River Aire in Yorkshire.

He said: ‘This rain is falling on saturated catchments where river levels are already high.’

The gloomy forecast comes as Environment Secretary George Eustice defended the Prime Minister for not visiting towns hit by Storm Dennis in Yorkshire, South Wales and the Midlands.

Speaking to Sky’s Sophy Ridge yesterday, he said: ‘In a Cabinet Government it’s not a one-man show, it’s right that on certain operational things such as this that the Prime Minister will ask one of his Cabinet members to lead, I can’t see anything wrong with that.’

England has already received over 141% of its average February rainfall, but the spokesman said it was too early to say if it could be the wettest February in 30 years.

Vehicles became stranded in various towns and villages west of Glasgow as the country was hit by further flooding on Saturday.

The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency said three flood warnings and four more serious alerts were in force on this morning mornings.

In Wales there were nine flood warnings in force and 19 alerts.

The UK’s grim weather should settle down tomorrow and on Wednesday, accompanied with a notable dip in temperatures.

But the Met Office warned further heavy rain is expected on Friday after more than a fortnight of downpours and flooding.

The spree of dramatic weather started with Storm Ciara, continued with Storm Dennis and kept going with the weekend’s storms, which the Met Office says have not been named.