A snow warning has been issued as Storm Freya sweeps across the UK and wind speeds approach 80mph in some parts of the country.
The Met Office has warned that dangerous conditions will continue into Monday morning and there have been reports of flying debris and sailors stranded at sea. Hundreds of homes have been left without electricity and gales have also disrupted trains and closed bridges.
The Met Office has said that 6cm (2.4in) of snow was recorded at a weather station near the border between Cumbria and Northumberland.
Heavy rain hit Scotland on Sunday, with 34mm falling in Kinlochewe in Torridon in the north-west Highlands. In Shapp, Cumbria, 22mm of rain was recorded.
The high winds were forecast to continue as the storm pushed north from south-west England. “Snow continues to fall across parts of northern England and Scotland, with 6cm reported at our Spadeadam station in Cumbria,” forecasters said in a tweet.
There were reports of heavy snow affecting travel on the A595 between Carlisle and Cockermouth on Sunday night, with video posted on social media showing cars at a standstill.
One motorist said there was “chaos” on the A595, tweeting: “Shocked at how bad it is! Major problems in Cumbria due to the snow! Very severe.”
#StormFreya bringing heavy #snow to the A595 in #Cumbria at the moment ❄️ #uksnow
— Greg Dewhurst (@GregDewhurst) March 3, 2019
Credit: @liam_lovell pic.twitter.com/TPwimm48bA
The strongest gust recorded on Sunday was in Mumbles, south Wales, at 76mph. The north Wales town of Capel Curig was a close second at 73mph.
Three men had to be rescued from the sea off Studland Bay in Dorset, after they got into difficulty in a dinghy. The trio were left “cold and wet but uninjured” after they managed to clamber on to a yacht that was at anchor, according to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
The M4 was blocked between Bridgend and Pencoed, in south Wales, after a car crashed into a central reservation and traffic was diverted off the M4 between junctions 41 and 42 because of winds on Briton Ferry bridge near Swansea. Nearby flooding closed a five-mile stretch of the A465 as a river burst its banks which caused more than 1,200 homes to be left without power.
The Tamar Bridge running between Cornwall and Plymouth was temporarily closed to wind-susceptible vehicles such as caravans.
