HUNDREDS OF schools have been closed throughout the UK and travel has been badly disrupted because of the Arctic temperatures, with the Met Office warning temperatures could fall to minus 20 in places in coming days.
November is on target to be the coldest in the UK for nearly a century, with even the North Pole warmer at minus 14. Western Siberia is, by contrast, reporting unseasonably high temperatures, registering 3.7.
Scotland and the northeast of England have been hardest hit, with the elderly in particular warned to stay indoors, but London and the southeast are expected to face snowstorms in coming days.
Altnaharra in northern Scotland recorded a low of minus 16.1 on Sunday night, while Llysdinam in Wales registered minus 18 earlier on Sunday, before rising to minus 12.9. Eastern parts of England are expected to bear the brunt of more wintry weather today, while road conditions could be made even more treacherous because biting easterly winds will bring with them the added risk of drifting snow.
Fresh falls of snow over Sunday night and yesterday morning were preceded overnight by spectacular lightning and thunderstorms, as warm air was drawn from above the North Sea into icy fronts advancing from Scandinavia.
In Northumberland, snow drifts reached two feet in upland areas after five days of snow, while park wardens at the Brecon Beacons abandoned typical duties to bring hot meals to isolated households.
In Perth in Scotland, more than 600 stranded people spent the night in a sports hall being cared for by locals after three main roads in the region were left completely blocked, with police saying conditions were “horrendous”.
Andy Nicol, from Linlithgow, told Channel 4 News he had got stuck as he drove from Dundee back to West Lothian.
“When we got to Perth we realised there was no way we were getting home, so the police directed us to Perth grammar school where we spent the night. It was as good as it could be. There was tea, coffee, blankets, there were beds, and we slept in the gym hall so they couldn’t have done much more,” Mr Nicol said.
“I’ve never seen the weather this bad – the A92 was horrendous, it was terrible, it was really slow. You just had to be patient. It was just stop, start, stop, start.”
The difficulties on Scottish roads were worsened after gritters failed to get to the roads before other traffic blocked them. Scotland has a 360,000-tonne stockpile of grit with another 100,000 tonnes on the way.
Scotland’s transport minister Stewart Stevenson welcomed the arrival at Leith docks of 26,000 tonnes of Peruvian salt.
The Automobile Association said it had dealt with an “‘unprecedented” number of calls from stranded drivers, reaching 30,000 over the weekend.
BBC Wales meteorologist Derek Brockway forecast snow, strong winds, and freezing temperatures for today and tomorrow.
“The wind is going to be getting up on Tuesday and Wednesday. It will become fresh to strong and it’s going to make it feel bitterly cold. It will feel minus 5 to minus 10 typically. There will be an increased risk of frozen pipes because of the wind pushing more cold air.”
