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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Nicola Slawson (now), Nadia Khomami (earlier)

Ice brings further hazards to vast swaths of UK - as it happened

Afternoon sumary

Here’s a roundup of all the weather related news today:

  • Police searching for 19-year-old Charlie Pope, who went missing in sub-zero temperatures, have found a body.
  • The Environment Agency has issued flood warnings for 14 areas in the UK including parts of Cornwall, Devon and Sunderland.
  • A disabled woman who took refuge from the icy conditions in a chemist after her electric wheelchair broke down has been rescued by a fire crew.
  • An elderly couple and their two dogs have been dug out of their house in southern Scotland after becoming trapped by 12ft (3.6m) snow drifts around the property.
  • The British Transport Police has urged people not to leave trains if they become stranded or delayed after frustrated passengers jumped off a train on to the tracks near Lewisham Station, south London, on Friday evening.
  • Eight men arrested after two supermarkets were looted in Dublin during Friday’s blizzards have been charged with theft, burglary and trespassing offences.
  • An emergency funding scheme has been opened for local authorities Scotland if they are facing an undue financial burden as a result of weather this week.
  • A yellow weather warning remains in place for much of the UK but the weather is expected to become less cold gradually over the next few days.

The weather is expected to become less cold gradually over the next few days, the Met Office has said.

A yellow weather warning remains in place for much of the UK until 11am tomorrow but in some areas in the southwest, the snow has already turned to rain.

Map of weather warnings. 11:00 Saturday - 11:00 Sunday
Current weather warnings in place.

Temperatures are now a few degrees above freezing, which will mean a slow thaw of the snow over the coming days.

Scotland will remain under the influence of the cold easterly airflow and further outbreaks of snow will be possible at times although this won’t be as heavy as in recent days.

Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Dan Suri, said:

After the severe cold weather and snow we’ve had this week the good news is that temperatures will slowly increase from the south, generally up to around 4 or 5 °C quite widely by the end of the weekend and we could even see up to 9 to 10 °C in southern areas.

It will remain coldest in north as well as the east of the UK and over the deepest snow cover.

As we head into next week the weather will return to something more typical for the time of year, with any snow showers gradually becoming confined to high ground in northestern Scotland and the Northern Isles.

For most of us southwesterly winds will return and we can expect rain at times.

An emergency funding scheme has been opened for local authorities in the wake of the severe weather.

The Scottish government said it will consider applications for financial assistance through the Bellwin Scheme after Borders council requested help.

The discretionary fund is designed to help councils who face an undue financial burden as a result of large-scale emergencies. It was recently activated in the wake of flooding by Storm Frank at the start of 2017, with millions of pounds given to repair damage in the Borders and Aberdeenshire.

It is now open for applications from all councils impacted by recent severe weather events, or those at risk from flooding as the snow melts.

Finance secretary, Derek Mackay said:

We are committed to helping our communities remain resilient and this support will help local councils deal with any immediate and unforeseen costs resulting from the recent heavy snow falls and ongoing cold weather.

Although we expect to have seen the worst of the severe weather, we’re aware there remains a flooding risk in some areas as the snow melts.

The Scottish government has been holding regular meetings of the Scottish government’s resilience room (SGoRR) to monitor the situation and I would urge people continue to take care and to check for the latest guidance from Police Scotland throughout the day.

Cosla president Alison Evison said:

Scottish Borders Council requested that the Bellwin scheme be triggered and it is good to see that the Scottish government has responded so quickly and so positively.

Financial support for councils who have been worse hit by recent weather events and for those councils who are at most risk from flooding as the snow melts will be crucial, given the challenges already facing council budgets.

An independent investigator will carry out a review after frustrated passengers jumped off a stranded train on to the tracks near Lewisham Station, south London, on Friday evening.

Southeastern apologised to passengers after the “major disruption” caused by ice affecting the power supply to trains.

A Southeastern spokesman said:

Southeastern and Network Rail will be appointing an independent investigator to carry out a full review of the events last night. Although events of this nature are extremely rare, we are determined to learn lessons that we can apply at all levels to prevent and mitigate future incidents.

We have also informed the independent Rail Accident Investigation Branch of the circumstances and invited them to carry out their own investigation.

We also want to hear from passengers who were on the stranded trains last night, we ask that they get in touch with us by contacting our customer services. We will be providing compensation for those people directly affected on those trains.

Updated

Impressive show of strength by this group who managed to push an Asda truck up a hill in Birmingham last night.

The A46 is still partly closed according to Highways England. But the A303 has been re-opened.

Sixteen couples managed to tie the knot in Somerset on Friday and Saturday despite the county being blanketed in snow.

Eleven other weddings were cancelled but only at the request of the couples involved, according to Somerset County Council.

A volunteer driver and a family friend of a staff member used their 4x4 vehicles to transport ceremony officers around to each venue to ensure the services could go ahead.

On Saturday, Michael Barker and Nathan Wilder had a white wedding at Taunton’s Municipal Buildings thanks to two registrars who lived nearby and came in on their days off when the original staff could not make it to work.

Councillor Anna Groskop, who is cabinet member for corporate and community services at the council, which covers the registration service, said:

The registration team have worked incredibly hard and showed great ingenuity throughout to ensure that we didn’t disappoint happy couples despite the extremely difficult conditions.

We did expect the worst, so this is a wonderful result.

Eight men charged after supermarkets looted in Dublin

Eight men arrested after two supermarkets were looted in Dublin during Friday’s blizzards have been charged with theft, burglary and trespassing offences, Irish Police have said.

The defendants, aged between 24 and 47 years, were due to appear in court on Saturday morning. A number of vehicles were also reported stolen.

A ninth man, in his 30s, has been arrested for handling stolen property.

Unverified social media footage appeared to show a Lidl store being attacked with a digger before the alleged looters entered.

Irish police said the store had sustained substantial damage, while another store had also been damaged. They urged anyone with information to come forward.

National Rail have been tweeting some updates about lines.

Northern Powergrid has said it hopes to restore power to everyone this afternoon.

We’ve collated a gallery of some of the best snow photographs around today. Click through if you want to see some lions having a great time in Scotland.

In a bid to ensure kids can return to class on Monday, parents and teachers are grouping together to clear snow from school.

100 volunteers turned up to Kinnaird Primary School in Larbert today, after an appeal was put out by the school on social media. Armed with shovels and spades, parents, children and teachers worked to ensure the school is safe to reopen after three days of weather-enforced closure last week.

Many local authorities announced last Tuesday that schools would be closed ahead of the weather warnings, with others following suit on Wednesday morning when conditions worsened. Most hope to reopen on Monday.

Kinnaird deputy head teacher Laura Swan joked: “I think there’s an element of parents being desperate to get the kids back out the house but it’s also the reality that the school wouldn’t be able to open without this so they’re just pulling together.”

Other schools around the country are doing likewise with Abbeyhill Primary in Edinburgh organising a “snow clearing party” for Sunday.

A Twitter post said: “Come dressed to impress in your warmest winter clothes and we really could make a difference for Monday morning. Bring a flask of something hot and we will provide some snacks.”

Updated

Avon and Somerset police dogs are having fun.

Greater Manchester Police say the A640 in Denshaw remains closed but all other road closures in the Oldham and Rochdale areas have been lifted. Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts said:

This truly has been a team effort from start to finish and we have been working closely alongside colleagues from the fire and ambulance services, mountain rescue, Highways England, multiple local authorities, the military, other police forces and volunteers.

I would like to thank the public for their patience and understanding whilst rescue efforts have been carried out. Their support has been fantastic and we have even had some very thoughtful people coming out to provide hot refreshments to officers working on the ground.

He said although the roads were starting to clear of snow in some areas, they were still experiencing very cold and icy conditions, “so I would continue to encourage people to please plan your journeys ahead of time and drive carefully.”

Here’s a travel update from Great Western Railway. Many lines remain suspended.

Dont try this at home:

The British Transport Police has urged people not to leave trains if they become stranded or delayed. A statement said

This week we have seen a number of incidents of people self-evacuating from trains stranded due to the exceptional weather.

Whilst we totally understand it isn’t pleasant being trapped on a train, you are far safer on board.

Self-evacuating from trains is never a good idea as it places you and others at significant risk. You are risking your life trespassing on live tracks.

Further delays are also inevitable if people self-evacuate as power has to be turned off for safety reasons.

Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service have issued advice for residents in the event of emergency flooding. The force said it responded to a number of incidents caused by frozen pipes bursting.

Cumbria police have issued some travel advice:

An elderly couple and their two dogs have been dug out of their house in southern Scotland after becoming trapped by 12ft (3.6m) snow drifts around the property.

Two police officers and a mountain rescue team managed to dig them out of the secluded farm house near West Linton after they called for help on Friday afternoon.

The couple, aged 70 and 71, had run out of firewood for heating and were cut off from their coal shed by the time they were freed. They were found to be in good health and were taken to stay with a friend, along with the two dogs.

Dave Wright, from Tweed Valley Mountain Rescue, said:

They were perfectly alright when we got them out the house, they were a little bit surprised by how the situation escalated so quickly and I don’t think they had experienced anything like that before, but this type of weather hasn’t been seen for quite some time.

We’re obviously used to working in the mountains and hills, but we haven’t seen conditions like this at ground level for a long time, it trumps 2010 and 2001 for the level of snow depth and how the drifts have been piling up.

Snow will continue to fall this afternoon but southern England is starting to see rain showers.

The West Coast Main Line between Glasgow and Carlisle will re-open this afternoon, Network Rail Scotland has said. The East Coast Main Line between Edinburgh and Newcastle is also open.

Updated

South Western has said there will be no trains between Southampton and Weymouth on Saturday. A full list of lines is available on the company’s website.

A disabled woman who took refuge from the icy conditions in a chemist after her electric wheelchair broke down has been rescued by a fire crew.

Fire fighters from South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue put a blanket on the “freezing” woman, who was not wearing a coat, before driving her home after she became stranded in Moorends, Doncaster.

It took three fire fighters almost half an hour to push the heavy eight-battery chair a quarter of a mile through ice and snow to her home. Daz Robertson, who drove her back, said the woman had been out doing some errands, but could not use her keys to get into the house when she returned because her fingers were too cold.

She went out on the chair to seek help, which was when the batteries went flat and she was taken in by a chemist, which stayed open late to look after her as darkness fell.

Gov.uk has issued flood warnings for 14 areas in the UK including parts of Cornwall, Devon and Sunderland. This means there is no danger to life but immediate action is required. There are also flood alerts in place for 32 areas, meaning be prepared.

Police find body of missing teenager

Police searching for 19-year-old Charlie Pope, who went missing in sub-zero temperatures, have found a body.

Pope, from West Didsbury, was last seen in Manchester city centre early on Thursday more than two hours after leaving a club. He had left the Zombie Shack in New Wakefield Street at about 2.30am and was later spotted in Whitworth Street at 4.50am.

On Friday, an underwater search team was deployed at the canal just off Whitworth Street West and shortly after 3.40pm a body was discovered. A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said

Although formal ID is yet to take place, it is believed to be Charlie Pope.

His family have been informed and are being provided with support from specially trained officers at this tragic time.

There are believed to be no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death and a file will be passed to the coroner.

An emergency funding scheme has been opened for local authorities in the wake of the Beast from the East, the Press Association reports.

The Scottish government said it will consider applications for financial assistance through the Bellwin Scheme after Borders Council requested help.

The discretionary fun, designed to help councils who face an undue financial burden as a result of large-scale emergencies, is open for applications from all councils impacted by recent severe weather events, or those at risk from flooding as the snow melts.

The Dawlish line has partially re-opened.

Northumbria Police have said the A1 is now open.

Further south, the Highways Agency said the A66 cross-Pennine route remained shut between the A1M at Scotch Corner to the A685 at Brough.

Updated

Airports are warning passengers to check the status of their flight with their airline.

More than 1,250 flights were cancelled across the UK and Ireland on Friday. Most airports, including Edinburgh and Glasgow, are open for “business as usual” on Saturday, for some delays and cancellations still remain.

The rail line at Dawlish, Devon, has been closed due to flooding caused by high tides.

ScotRail is urging travellers to check journey times as network is facing challenges due to the freezing temperatures. In a series of tweets, it said that snow was drifting on to tracks because of high winds of up to 40mph.

Met Office forecasters said temperatures could climb to as high as 7C for parts of Wales and the South West on Saturday, with rain replacing the snow that has blighted Britain for much of the past week. But they warned that as rain begins to fall on snow-covered roads, the potential for ice to form could bring further hazards.

A yellow weather warning for ice is in place for much of England until 11am, while snow is still possible for Scotland and North East England, with a warning in force until midnight. Northern parts of the UK saw more snow overnight, with a further 5cm likely to fall by the end of the day. Met Office forecaster Greg Dewhurst said:

It won’t feel quite as cold compared to what we’ve seen previously, but the potential for ice could mean roads are very slippery.

Overnight, the M62 in Greater Manchester finally reopened after being closed for more than a day. Hundreds of motorists had spent Thursday night trapped in their cars when heavy snowfall and high winds left the road impassable.

Some roads remain closed on Saturday as authorities work to clear snow, while flights and trains continue to be affected.

However, many transport services are beginning to get back to normal.

Updated

The UK is counting the cost of extraordinary blizzards that have brought parts of the country to a standstill, leaving death and destruction and bringing misery to tens of thousands of travellers.

Forecasters have warned that, as rain begins to fall on snow-covered roads, the potential for ice to form could bring further hazards. A yellow weather warning for ice is in place for much of England until 11am, while snow is still possible for Scotland and north-east England, with a warning in force until midnight.

Northern parts of the UK saw more snow overnight, with a further 5cm likely to fall by the end of the day.

As the weather starts to ease, local authorities and the government, emergency services, transport companies, retailers, motorists and householders will face hefty bills to restore normality after the dramatic snowfall and gales.

Major incidents were declared in Wiltshire, Avon and Somerset, Devon, Cornwall and Hampshire after many hundreds of drivers were stranded in their vehicles.

Two more deaths were recorded on Friday, taking the death toll in weather-related incidents to 10.

We’ll be posting all of today’s key developments on this liveblog. You can read the Guardian’s full news report below.

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