Major incidents declared as UK grapples with floods, snow and ice

Flood warnings have been issued in parts of England, as wintry conditions continue to cause travel delays and school closures across the UK.

Major incidents have been declared in Lincolnshire and Leicester over flooding caused by heavy rains.

Yellow weather warnings for snow and ice have been issued in Northern Ireland, parts of Scotland and Wales and areas of northwest and southwest England until Tuesday morning.

Travel disruption caused by the cold and wet weather continued into Monday, with roads, railways and airports all affected.

A Met Office warning for snow and ice across large parts of Scotland came into force at 16:00 and will last until midday on Tuesday.

In Northern Ireland, a yellow alert for snow and ice warning will be in place until 11:00 on Tuesday.

A yellow alert for snow and ice across Wales and parts of northwest and southwest England took effect at 17:00 on Monday, lasting until 10:00 on Tuesday.

As of Monday afternoon, there were 176 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, and 311 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible, in place across England.

In Wales, one flood warning and 13 flood alerts are in place.

A major incident has been declared in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland due to severe flooding, with homes submerged and people left trapped in their vehicles by rising water.

Lincolnshire became the second county to declare a major incident over flooding.

Emma Hardy, the minister for water and flooding, told MPs that the country’s flood defences were “in the worst condition on record”. She blamed “years of under-investment” under the previous Conservative government.

“There are approximately 60,000 properties less well protected than if flood defences were at an optimal condition,” she said, adding the government had pledged £2bn in the next two years to “build and maintain” flood defences.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his thoughts were with all those affected and thanked “responders working hard to keep communities safe”.

The coldest temperature of the UK winter so far was recorded on Sunday night, when the mercury hit -13.3C (8F) in Loch Glascarnoch in Scotland.

On Monday morning, snowy conditions forced schools across north-east Scotland and northern England to close on the first day back after the Christmas holidays.

Power had to be restored to thousands of homes and businesses in the north-east of England following outages caused by the cold snap, according to network operator Northern Powergrid.

Roads across the UK were impacted by the weather. Extensive flooding in Gloucester forced the M5 to close on Monday morning. The M25 in Surrey also closed after a lorry toppled over and blocked the carriageway.

Railway lines across the UK were affected by flooding, while Manchester Airport was again forced to shut two runways after heavy snow.

Tonight the weather will feel quieter, as the area of low pressure which brought snow and rain this morning has cleared eastwards but it leaves behind it some very cold air and some wintry showers.

There will be a widespread frost with temperatures dropping widely below freezing and the risk of ice almost everywhere.

There will be frost not just within the warning areas but also further east, where there has been snowmelt and the ground is still wet from recent rain.

Various warnings are in force for snow and ice issued by the Met Office.

There will be further wintry showers blowing in on a north-westerly wind through the evening and overnight period. These showers could be frequent and fall as sleet or snow especially over the high ground where there could be some accumulations.

In northern and western Scotland, wintry showers with accumulations of 5-10cm over 200m are expected.

There will be further sporadic wintry showers in the same sort of areas tomorrow but for many it will be dry with some sunshine but just very cold with temperatures no higher than mid-single figures.

There is a separate warning in place for possible snow across southern counties of England on Wednesday valid from 09:00 until midnight which could be disruptive and produce as much as 2-5cm of snow fairly widely.

However, the forecast for this remains uncertain.

The world has warmed by more than 1C since the pre-industrial era. UK winters are changing as a result.

While the climate continues to warm overall we will still see short-term extremes of both hot and cold weather – but cold extremes are likely to become fewer and further between.

Climate change will bring us more rain. A warmer atmosphere is able to hold more moisture so more intense rainfall is expected to become an increasing feature of UK winters, along with a higher risk of flooding.