UK weather live: Met office issues three day snow warning for most of England with 170 flood warnings in place

Thousands of airline passengers face disruption on New Year’s Day after 36 flights to and from London Heathrow were cancelled.

They have been grounded in response to a reduction in the “flow rate” of arrivals at the UK’s busiest airport.

British Airways cancelled 28 European flights linking Heathrow with destinations such as Barcelona, Copenhagen and Nice. Two round-trips to Milan have been grounded.

A spokesperson for BA said: “We operate hundreds of flights every day without disruption, successfully getting tens of thousands of our customers to where they need to be.

“Like other airlines, we’ve had to make some small adjustments to our schedule today because of air traffic control restrictions across London airports due to adverse weather conditions.

“While the vast majority of our customers will be unaffected, we apologise for the inconvenience caused and our teams are working hard to help get their journeys back on track.”

Other cancellations have been made by Swiss from Geneva and Zurich, Lufthansa from Frankfurt and Air France from Paris CDG.

Greater Manchester Police said a major incident has been declared over widespread flooding in the area following heavy rain.

The force said the worst affected areas were Bolton, Didsbury, Harpurhey, Stalybridge, Stockport and Wigan.

Mountain rescue teams have been deployed to help Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service deal with damaged properties and stranded vehicles.

Chief Superintendent Colette Rose said: “Following events overnight a major incident has been declared. This is to ensure we can continue to keep people safe through a co-ordinated effort from our collective emergency services, supported by key partner agencies.

“Anyone affected should check the relevant detail being shared by their local council, the fire service and Transport for Greater Manchester to ensure they can get the support available, which include any road closures and information centres for those displaced. It is advised to travel if it is only necessary and to take care if out and about.

“Our officers with the fire service are in the key locations and can be spoken to if you need anything urgently, as we understand the distress those affected will be faced with as we begin 2025. It will be a continued team effort as we monitor how the weather and water levels progress throughout today.”

The Met Office has issued a fresh batch of weather warnings for snow and ice across the UK throughout the rest of the week.

The snow and ice warning in north Scotland has been expanded to include the Orkneys and Shetlands and extended until 10am on Thursday.

A fresh ice warning has been introduced covering all of northern England, Northern Ireland. northern Wales, and the parts of Scotland not under the snow and ice warning. This will also be in place until 10am tomorrow.

A two-day yellow weather warning for snow has been introduced for all of Wales, southern Scotland, and almost all England barring parts of the southern and eastern coasts. It will be in place from 12pm on Saturday until 9am on Monday.

Airline passengers making long-haul journeys to and from London Heathrow on Virgin Atlantic and British Airways face delays, two of them triggered by diversions.

Virgin Atlantic flight VS8 from Los Angeles to London Heathrow took off as expected shortly before 4pm California time on New Year’s Eve. But while flying over northern Missouri, the Airbus A350 diverted due to a medical emergency on board. It landed 75 minutes later at Chicago O’Hare.

A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: “Flight VS8 from Los Angeles to London Heathrow requested a priority diversion into Chicago O’Hare Airport on Tuesday 31 December (local) due to a passenger becoming unwell onboard.

“The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is always our number one priority and we’re sorry for the inconvenience caused to customers onboard. The aircraft has continued to London and is due to arrive this afternoon.”

The flight departed from Chicago a few minutes after midnight, local time, and is expected to arrive at Heathrow about four hours late at 1.30pm.

Passengers on a BA flight from Chicago to Heathrow also unexpectedly saw in the New Year at O’Hare airport. Flight BA296 was already late after a diversion to Iceland on the outbound flight. The aircraft left the stand at Chicago at 1am local time, but returned to the terminal before take-off. The Boeing 787 eventually left at 2.25am local time, and is expected to arrive at 3.30pm – four hours late.

British Airways passengers due to fly to Johannesburg at 9.15pm on New Year’s Eve are still at Heathrow after a technical issue grounded their plane. It is now likely to fly out at 12 noon, around 15 hours late.

The corresponding inbound flight from South Africa’s largest city to London is expected to operate about eight hours late on Thursday.

Britons are bracing for snowfall and a sharp drop in temperatures which will hit below freezing in some areas on New Year’s Day.

Conditions aren’t set to improve at the start of the new year, with rain, wind and snow warnings covering much of Wales, the southern half of England and northern Scotland.

A snow and ice could cause “travel disruption and difficult driving conditions” across northern Scotland, with a yellow warning in place until 9am on Thursday as temperatures reach sub-zero on Wednesday evening.

The UK will experience an uncertain start to the year in weather terms, with a wet and windy start across much of England and Wales and chilly conditions with some occasional sunshine in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Rebekah Hicks said: “A band of persistent and at times heavy rain will linger across Wales and northwest England through Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, before clearing southeast during Wednesday afternoon. This rain will be accompanied by strong and gusty winds.”

On Thursday, the forecaster says it is “likely that the whole of the UK will experience a change to colder conditions, with this persisting into the weekend”.

TransPennine Express, which runs intercity trains in northern England and southern Scotland is urging customers not to travel on New Year’s Day morning “as persistent heavy rain has caused flooding on several routes – primarily in the north west”.

The company says: “The flooding is causing significant issues in Greater Manchester and Cheshire and is impacting many service across the major trans-Pennine routes. “With the heavy rain set to continue for several hours, further flooding is likely and rail travellers have been advised to delay journeys, at least until the afternoon.”

Passengers are urged “to defer their travel or claim a refund”.

Northern warns: “Flooding between Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly means that all lines are disrupted. Trains running between these stations will be cancelled or revised. Disruption is expected until 12 noon.”

Lines between Liverpool and Manchester are also blocked.