Much of the UK has woken up to snow after blizzard conditions blanketed much of the north of England and Scotland as well as parts of Wales in a coating of Arctic conditions.
And forecasters are warning of the risk to life, power supplies and travel disruption following the heavy snow overnight and into this morning.
An amber alert for snow means there is “potential risk to life and property” and the Met Office has issued such an alert for the north of England including Yorkshire as well as much of Scotland.
Meanwhile another yellow warning for snow has been issued across most of the UK, with rain warnings for potential flooding further south.
The Met Office has issued an amber warning for snow and ice for parts of Scotland and northern England, with a “good chance some rural communities could be cut off”.
Amber warnings mean there is the potential for risk to life and property.
Travel is widely disrupted with roads closed and some train routes cancelled throughout Saturday with rail companies urging passengers to avoid travelling to certain areas.
National Highways has issued a “severe weather alert” for snow affecting Yorkshire and north-east England with “blizzard conditions” expected and up to five hours of heavy snow set to “accumulate quickly at all levels”.
Flights have been disrupted at Newcastle Airport as Storm Bert brought heavy snow to the North East.
The airport posted on X: “Due to Storm Bert, the airport has had continuous, heavy snow this morning.
“Our snow team is operational and are working hard to keep any disruption to a minimum and we will provide a further update later this morning.
“Passengers are advised to visit our website for the latest flight information and to contact their airline directly if they have any queries.”
Ferry operator DFDS has cancelled services on some routes until Monday with sailings from Newhaven to Dieppe and Dover to Calais being severely affected.
The amber alert for heavy snow and ice is in force between 7am and 5pm on Saturday in areas across Scotland, where 10-20cm is likely on ground above 200 metres and potentially as much as 20-40cm on hills above 400 metres.
CalMac – a ferry operator which serves the west coast of Scotland – has cancelled several sailings on Saturday with disruption expected on many other services.
P&O Ferries said it had cancelled the 4am sailing between Larne in Northern Ireland and Cairnryan in Scotland’s south west on Saturday.
A second amber warning will be in place between 7am and midday on Saturday covering parts of Yorkshire and the North East of England.
Yellow wind, rain and snow warnings cover much of the rest of the UK on Saturday and into Sunday.
Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell said the effects of the storm would continue throughout the weekend.
“We expect the worst of the snow to pass by 12pm in Yorkshire but there will be some heavy rain and travelling conditions throughout the day will be pretty poor,” he said.
He told the PA news agency there was 13cm of snow measured in Leek in Staffordshire on Saturday morning and 68mph winds in Brixham, Devon.
“As milder weather comes in snow will melt, leading to pretty hazardous conditions,” Mr Snell said.
