Weather forecast live: Three day snow warning for most of England as floods lead to major incident in Manchester

A three-day snow warning has been issued for much of Britain, with temperatures set to plunge this weekend – bringing misery to areas already hit by flooding in the wake of high winds and torrential rain.

Britain began the new year with weather alerts in place across large swathes of the country, including more than 170 flood warnings in England, Scotland and Wales.

A yellow warning is in place from noon on Saturday until 9am on Monday and covers all regions of England except the South West, the majority of Wales and parts of southern Scotland.

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About 5cm of snow is expected widely across the Midlands, Wales and northern England, the Met Office has said.

As much as 20-30cm could be seen over high ground in Wales and/or the Pennines, the forecaster added.

• A yellow warning for snow and ice is in place covering northern Scotland until 10am on Thursday, as rain turning to snow is likely to lead to some travel disruption and difficult driving conditions, the Met Office said.
• Meanwhile, a yellow warning for ice has been issued from 4pm on Wednesday until 10am on Thursday, covering Northern Ireland, parts of North Wales, England and Scotland, which could also lead to difficult travel conditions.
• And a three-day yellow warning for snow has been issued for almost all of England and Wales and parts of Scotland this weekend as the Met Office warned that rural communities could become cut off. The yellow warning is in place from noon on Saturday until 9am on Monday and covers all regions of England other than the South West, the majority of Wales and parts of southern Scotland.

“Significant inland flooding” is possible after “heavy and persistent rain” and river levels will remain high across parts of the north of England until Thursday, according to a flood duty manager at the Environment Agency.

Ben Lukey said: “Environment Agency teams will be out on the ground, operating flood defences, taking action to reduce the impact of flooding, issuing flood warnings and supporting those communities affected.

“We advise anyone travelling or out celebrating the new year to be especially careful and urge people to stay away from swollen rivers and not to drive through floodwater as just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move your car.”

Some parts of the North West saw almost a month’s worth of rain within 48 hours, according to the Met Office.

And that was before the North West and Wales were lashed by more heavy rain on Wednesday.

Honister Pass in Cumbria saw nearly 6in (150mm) of rain, while Rochdale in Greater Manchester had 3in (77mm).

The Met Office has forecast a sunny morning for many across the UK.

Writing on X, the weather service said: “Thursday morning will start frosty, though clear or sunny for many

“Some ice and wintry showers, especially in the north.”

Several hundred British Airways passengers expecting to depart on their flights back to London Gatwick on New Year’s Day have enjoyed extended holidays at the airline’s expense. They can also look forward to hundreds of pounds in compensation, as the hold-ups were due to technical faults on BA’s Boeing 777 aircraft.

The first problem arose on New Year’s Eve, when BA2065 from Gatwick to Mauritius “went technical”. Departure for the Indian Ocean island was delayed by 24 hours.

Holidaymakers in Mauritius were due to fly back on the aircraft at 9.10pm on New Year’s Day. But the plane was still on the ground at Gatwick.

British Airways says the flight will now leave Mauritius at 12.15pm on 2 January, 15 hours behind schedule. Passengers will get an extra night on the island.

Conversely, though, passengers on the outbound flight spent 24 hours at hotels in the Gatwick area, shortening their holidays by a day.

The New Year’s Day British Airways flight from Gatwick to Orlando in Florida was cancelled because of another technical fault. Passengers must be found space on alternative flights, but many are likely to have to change planes

All travellers on either leg of the grounded flights are entitled to £520 under air passengers’ rights rules. British Airways must pay for additional hotel nights and meals.

People who are on package holidays and who lose a day of the trip because of being stuck at Gatwick should also be able to claim a pro-rata refund of the cost of their trip.

In Bristol, the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol has been activated by Bristol City Council and homeless charity St Mungo’s.

Running until 8 January, it will see increased outreach shifts and more accommodation made available, with the aim of ensuring nobody has to sleep on the streets during such extreme weather conditions.

A geography professor said they have had 70 to 80mm of rain in the Greater Manchester region after measuring it on a rain gauge at his home.

Tom Coulthard, who works at the University of Hull from Didsbury, south Manchester, said: “It started raining heavily at about 5 or 6pm on Tuesday evening, and then it just rained hard all night.

“All the local rivers and water courses have sort of filled up and flooded around the area.

“All around this part of south Manchester, Cheadle, bits of Cheshire, there’s been local flooding. Roads closed. The motorway was closed, the M60, the M56 to Manchester Airport, that was all closed off.

“The last record level was set in Didsbury in February 2022, these record levels in the rivers around here are tumbling every year or every couple of years.

“That’s really probably a sign of just how our weather is changing, how climate is shifting this.

“This is in line with all sorts of the predictions that people in my profession have been talking about for 20 years or more, the impacts of climate change will be sort of warmer, wetter winters.”