Forecasters have issued another warning for icy weather in Greater Manchester this weekend. But with a bit of luck we might have seen the back of the snow... for now.
Blizzards brought treacherous conditions with drivers left stranded for more than seven hours on the M62 near Rochdale last night. National Highways North West estimated that at one point congestion on the eastbound carriageway between Rochdale and Saddleworth stretched to around eight miles.
A warning for ice issued for Greater Manchester remains in place until 10am on Saturday, while another snow and ice warning has been issued for northern England on Saturday into Sunday morning. But after that it looks like temperatures will start to pick up.
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Saturday will see temperatures in Manchester peak at 6C at about 3pm, before dropping to around 3C overnight. But Sunday looks set to get a bit warmer, with temperatures rising to around 12C.
Speaking to the M.E.N. earlier today Met Office spokesperson, Grahame Madge said that although the conditions brought by Storm Larisa are starting to exit the UK, cold weather is likely to continue. He said the reason many people across the country, including some parts of Greater Manchester, woke up to such thick snow this week was a perfect mix of different weather systems.
"Storm Larisa is now exiting the UK and making its way to southern Europe, but what is coming now is further cold air from the north," he said. "From Saturday we will start to see a change in the weather and by Sunday conditions should be relatively milder compared to this week.
"Temperatures could rise to seven or eight degrees which is much warmer than what we've seen over the last few days."
The warmer weather expected this weekend is unlikely to stay though, warns the Met Office. Mr Madge said cold temperatures could return as soon as the start of next week.
"There will be some warmer temperatures on Sunday but more wintry conditions are never far away from Manchester," he said. "This is particularly the case in Manchester where there is a lot of high ground so some parts of the region are likely to see some snow again.
"Whether that will be the last wintry shower is unknown. The cold air that is coming next week is not expected to be as bad as what we've seen over the last few days. It will be colder rather than much colder and snowfall will likely be restricted to higher ground."
As yellow weather warnings for snow and ice are set to remain in place until the end of the weekend, Mr Madge explained the reason why snowfall has been so heavy over the past week.
"It's been particularly heavy which is being associated with low pressure system blowing with cold air, which is the perfect mix for heavy snow," he said. "You get the big wet snowflakes which are a lot more likely to settle quickly. It is not just the cold temperatures, it is the slightly warmer and moist air."
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