More bad weather for Britain: Second storm and snow expected on Saturday

A second storm is due to hit the UK today, causing more disruption to homes and travel routes.

 

Turbulent weather is due to arrive from the Atlantic and sweep across parts of the country, according to the Met Office. It is also expected to bring with it the first widespread snowfall of the year.

 

Gales of 80mph are predicted, along with between 2cm and 4cm of snow.

 

"Tonight there will be further wintry showers in the north and west, with snow over northern hills, reaching lower levels at times,” the Met said. "Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England are most at risk from snow and ice."

 

There will be yellow “be prepared” weather alerts in Scotland, the north, the Midlands, Wales and Northern Ireland later on Saturday. 

 

Yesterday, thousands of homes were left without power and after the first of the two storms struck. Hurricane force-winds hit the north of Britain and left more than 100,000 homes without power. 

 

Scottish Power has announced that 20,000 customers are now reconnected to their power supplies, while Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution says electricity has been restored to around 60,000 homes. 

 

Travel services were disrupted, with trains between Edinburgh and Glasgow affected. On roads, high winds caused problems on the A1 in Yorkshire and the North East as lorries toppled over and blocked the carriageway. The trans-Pennine A66 was also closed. 

 

The cause of this spate of bad weather is a powerful jet stream coming from the US, where very low temperatures hit warmer air in the south.