The UK Met Office has today increased a Cold Weather Alert to its second-highest level and issued an amber severe weather warning for heavy snow tomorrow.
But the good news is that milder temperatures are forecast to warm up the UK from Tuesday and remain for the rest of the week.
All regions of England are affected by today's level 3 Cold Weather Alert, which warns of “severe cold weather/icy conditions/heavy snow between 1000 on Sunday and 1200 on Monday”.
The alert urges health trusts to launch emergency plans to target high-risk groups such as the very young and very old or those with chronic diseases.
The Cold Weather Health Watch system operates in England from the 1 November to 31 March every year, in association with the Department of Health.
The alert system comprises of four levels of response based on cold weather thresholds. The thresholds have been developed to trigger an alert when severe cold weather is likely to significantly affect people's health.
The alerts, which escalate in severity from level one to level four take account of temperature along with other winter weather threats such as ice and snow. This morning's alert was raised to a level three category.
It added: “This weather could increase the health risks to vulnerable patients and disrupt the delivery of services. Sunday night will see another widespread frost but milder weather with wind and rain will spread across all parts.”
In addition, the Met Office amber severe weather warning for snow was issued today and affects Strathclyde, Central Scotland, Tayside and Fife as well as South West Scotland and the Lothian Borders.
It is valid from 6am and 11am on Monday morning, and warns: “An area of rain, sleet and snow is expected to move in from the west during Monday morning. Moderate accumulations of snow are likely above 250 metres, with some temporary accumulations of snow at low levels for a time in the east of this area, whilst rain falling onto sub-zero surfaces will increase the risk of ice in the west and at low levels further east.
“The public should be prepared for the risk of travel disruption.”
The current severe cold snap is expected to end on Monday evening with temperatures across the UK reaching 12C degrees on Wednesday in time for last-minute Christmas shopping.
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