New weather warnings as snow and ice cause travel havoc and school closures in UK

New yellow warnings of more snow and ice have been issued by the UK Met Office as wintry weather caused travel disruption and the return to school was abandoned for thousands of pupils.

A warning for snow and ice is in place across most of south-west England and Wales, and parts of north-west England and the West Midlands, for between 5pm on Monday until 10am on Tuesday.

The same warning is in place for western and northern parts of Scotland for between 4pm on Monday until midday on Tuesday, and in Northern Ireland between 3pm on Monday until 11am on Tuesday. There is a separate warning for snow in southern England on Wednesday from 9am until 11.59pm.

A separate warning for potentially disruptive snow across southern counties and south London begins at 9am on Wednesday and lasts all day.

Large airports, including Manchester, temporarily closed their runways because of heavy snow while stranded vehicles and collisions blocked main roads across northern England.

The adverse conditions come after heavy snow or icy rainfall across most of the UK over the weekend, with the Met Office issuing amber weather warnings.

The Met Office warned travellers that more travel disruption was likely amid wintry conditions, including flooding from heavy rain and thawing snow, with more than 160 flood warnings and 300 flood alerts issued.

National Highways said the M5 in Gloucestershire was closed southbound from junction 11A (for Gloucester) to junction 12 (for Quedgeley) because of extensive flooding while the A66 over the Pennines remained closed in both directions.

Police in south Wales warned the A48 was closed from the Llanedeyrn roundabout after a serious road collision, with eastbound traffic reduced to one lane.

Rail passengers were encouraged to check before they travelled, with problems reported across the network.

Lines between Derby and Nottingham were closed because of flooding affecting CrossCountry and East Midlands Railway services. Many trains, including those between Gloucester and Bristol, were running at a reduced speed.

The Met Office said it was Britain’s coldest night of the winter so far after -13.3C was recorded at Loch Glascarnoch in the Highlands between Ullapool and Inverness.

The return to school was scrapped for thousands of children across Britain, with Yorkshire being particularly badly affected. In Bradford, 180 schools were closed, in Leeds more than 100 and there were dozens more shut across Calderdale, Halifax, Kirklees and North Yorkshire.

There were also school closures in Lancashire, County Durham and northern Scotland, with about 80 shut in Aberdeenshire.

Cold air would return and remain across the whole country from Monday after a spell of milder conditions in southern areas, the Met Office said.

“The low pressure that brought the snow and heavy rain in the south will move out to the east by Monday. This will allow a cold northerly flow to become established again for much of next week,” said the Met forecaster Mike Silverstone.

“Temperatures will remain below average, with widespread frost and the threat of ice at times. Some areas, especially in the north, may struggle to get above freezing for several days,” Silverstone said.

As of Monday afternoon, the Environment Agency had issued 173 flood warnings across England, meaning flooding was expected, and 316 flood alerts, meaning flooding was possible.

National Resources Wales had two flood warnings and 22 flood alerts in place.

There was a warning for significant river flooding in areas of Lancashire and Warwickshire on Monday, from a combination of melting snow and rain. People were advised to avoid swollen rivers and not to drive through flood water.