Temperatures could fall as low as minus 8C on Thursday night as wintry conditions are expected to continue for at least a week with drops as low as -8C in Scotland.
Amber alerts have been issued from 12pm on Thursday until January 8, meaning a rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions, is likely, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.
ScotRail alerted customers to the continued weather warnings in place across the country and said: “The Met Office continue to issue a YELLOW weather warning for snow and ice across many parts of our network. Please check your journey before travelling as delays and alternations to services may occur. All travel information can be found here.”
Temperatures could fall as low as minus 8C in rural Scotland, the Met Office said. It will also be cold in parts of Wales and rural spots in southern England with between minus 4C and minus 5C expected.
Dan Stroud, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “There’ll be widespread frost across the country tonight, from Land’s End to John O’Groats. It will be comfortably below where we should be for this time of year and I would expect temperatures to hit minus 8C in parts of Scotland.”
Mr Stroud confirmed conditions should become warmer by the end of this weekend before cold weather strikes again early next week. He said: “The second half of the weekend should be in the high singles or low doubles. But temperatures will dive again next week, particularly on Monday and Tuesday. They should start to improve towards the latter end of the week. But there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge until then.”
Age UK director Caroline Abrahams said the Government’s decision to limit the winter fuel allowance to only the poorest pensioners will be put “into sharp relief” by the cold snap. Ms Abrahams said the charity had already been contacted by older people “worrying about what to do when this moment arrived”.
From this winter, only people on pension credit or certain other benefits will receive the winter fuel payments while more than nine million others are set to be stripped of the allowance.
The charity director said: “We urge older people to do everything they can to stay warm, even if that means risking spending more on their heating than they feel they can afford. The energy companies are under an obligation to help if you are struggling and there may be support available from your local council too.”
Meanwhile, fresh weather warnings have been issued by the Met Office for ice ahead of a blast of snow over the weekend. The yellow warning indicates there could be icy surfaces in northern and western Scotland, the north west of England and Northern Ireland.
It will remain in place from 5pm on Thursday until 10am on Friday morning, and could make for difficult travelling conditions, the forecaster warned. A snow and ice warning is also in place covering parts of northern Scotland between 4pm on Thursday and 10am on Friday.
Scattered wintry showers will be replaced by a longer spell of rain and sleet on Thursday night, particularly across western Scotland and Northern Ireland.
As temperatures dip below freezing, this will lead to a risk of ice on untreated surfaces, the forecaster said. A yellow warning is in place from noon on Saturday until 9am on Monday and covers all regions of England, other than the South West, the majority of Wales and parts of southern Scotland.
Strong winds could lead to snow drifts in some areas, and freezing rain as temperatures creep up could add to the risk of ice.
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