Britain hit by snow and coldest night of the year as 'Troll of Trondheim' rolls in

10 December 2022, 09:46 | Updated: 10 December 2022, 11:48

Britain has been hit by snow and the coldest night of the year as the "Troll of Trondheim" caused disruption and road accidents.

Britain endured the coldest night of 2022 so far, with -9.2C recorded at Eskdalemuir in Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland.

The Met Office warned that snow was falling in North West England, Wales and South West England and it was accumulating even in lower lying areas.

It has issued yellow warnings for snow and ice across those areas, as well as warnings for much of Scotland and part of north-east Northern Ireland.

Snow warnings have also been issued for London and the South East for Sunday.

Manchester Airport was forced to close both runways on Saturday morning but reopened shortly after midday.

"Due to heavy snow fall, we have temporary closed both runways. Health and safety will always be our top priority and operations will resume at the earliest opportunity," the airport said in a tweet earlier.

One would-be tourist said they had been stuck onboard a plane for three hours and there was no sign of any activity to clear the runways.

"Can't see how Manchester airport is going to start operations any time soon. Not even any gritters been out or snow ploughs," Twitter user Stuart said.

"Been stuck on the plane 3 hours so far."

Met Office chief meteorologist Steve Willington said: "It is staying cold with daytime temperatures remaining only a few degrees above freezing in many places over the coming days and overnight temperatures dropping to -10C or lower in isolated spots.

"Although below average, these temperatures are not that unusual for this time of year.

"There is still a risk we could see some freezing fog in places particularly southern England, especially for Sunday and Monday mornings."

The weather has triggered the Cold Weather Payment, enabling people on low incomes access to £25 off their energy bills if temperatures of 0C are recorded or forecast for seven days in a row.

Read more: Arctic blast sets off government's Cold Weather Payment - but are you eligible for the £25 off energy bills?

Motorists were advised to leave the car at home and travel by foot given the difficult conditions.

There were road accidents on the M62, M61 and M58 in the north West.

RAC spokesman Rod Dennis said: "The big freeze continues today and those heading out on the roads must be alert to the risk of ice, especially in the south and west of the UK which are covered by weather warnings.

"Leaving the car at home and going on foot to watch the match perhaps makes the most sense - and especially so if people are planning on drinking any alcohol while England play France.

"Yesterday was an exceptionally busy day for breakdowns, with the equivalent of around 400 drivers breaking down every hour - similar to what we'd expect on a Monday in December."