Amber weather warning for snow issued for parts of UK - as temperatures set to plummet to -16C

8 January 2025, 14:50 | Updated: 8 January 2025, 15:07

The UK is braced for another blast of super cold weather - with amber warnings for snow now in place across south west England.

It covers parts of Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall.

A yellow alert in place for a large area of southern England too.

Tomorrow night could be the coldest of the winter so far - with temperatures set to drop as low as -16.

In a post on X, Devon and Cornwall Police said snowfall is being reported in the counties and more bursts are on the way.

The Met Office has warned of travel disruption caused by the snow and said some vehicles and passengers could become stranded.

Power cuts are likely, the national weather service said, and delays and cancellations to rail and air travel are also expected.

Overnight, temperatures are set to drop sharply, with lows of minus 14C possible in Scotland and northern England on Wednesday and sub-zero temperatures expected across the country.

Minimum temperatures of minus 16C could be reached on Thursday night, the Met Office said.

Oli Claydon, spokesman for the Met Office, told the PA news agency it will be "bitterly cold" on Thursday night.

He said the lowest temperatures will be recorded in rural Scotland and rural northern England where there is lying snow, cloudless skies and very cold airflow.

A temperature of minus 14C would equal the lowest seen in this month last year, recorded in Dalwhinnie in the Scottish Highlands on January 17 2024.

But a temperature of minus 16C would be the lowest recorded in January in the UK for 15 years, since minus 22.3C was logged in Altnaharra in the Highlands on January 8 2010, according to Met Office data.

Lows of minus 20C have not been reached since minus 23C was recorded at Braemar, Aberdeenshire, in February 2021.