Further weather warnings as snow is forecast

There will be little let-up in Britain's spell of bad weather, with warnings in place for some parts of the country today.

The Met Office has issued warnings of the possibility of snow from 3am to 10am for most of the country.

But the South is set for a brief reprieve - the only two areas without warnings of snow are the East of England and London and the South East.

From the Midlands further north, there is the risk of snow and heavy showers, with high winds adding to the chance of blizzards.

Conditions could worsen into Thursday with weather warnings moving back down to the south coast.

The Environment Agency has flood warnings in place in the North East, North West and Wales for today, with alerts also in place in the Midlands, South East and South West.

On Monday high winds and heavy rain battered England and Wales.

The south of England and South Wales bore the brunt, with up to 40mm of rain falling in some areas in 12 hours.

One man had a lucky escape when a tree smashed into his bedroom while he was asleep in Winchester, Hampshire.

Former ambassador Richard Wilkinson, 65, suffered only an ear injury despite the beech tree crushing his bedroom.

The Met Office said today will be a "cold and windy day for most", with showers continuing, particularly across western parts.

"Some showers will be heavy and thundery, with a risk of sleet or hail, and further snow over higher ground."

Bad weather could return to the South tomorrow, with forecasters predicting potentially severe gales and outbreaks of rain.

There were concerns of an even stronger storm forecast for later this week, but that is now expected to be weaker and hit France and Germany, the Press Association's weather arm Meteogroup said yesterday.

Chris Burton said: "It's not unusual to get a westerly flow from the Atlantic causing stormy weather over the UK during autumn and early winter.

"For the last few years it's been different, with colder weather, so it seems worse than usual, but it's not."

Earlier this week gusts of 70mph were measured in Devon, Meteogroup said, with 60mph in South Wales and 64mph in Langdon Bay, Kent.

London received 40% of its usual monthly rainfall for December when around 20mm fell. The average for the month in the capital is 50mm.

Hampshire Police said the force received 206 calls in 24 hours relating to floods and fallen trees, compared with 18 in a normal day.

The latest spell of bad weather comes after a storm battered the country last Thursday, leaving thousands of homes without electricity and leading to widespread school closures.

PA