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UK weather forecast: Wind and flood warnings issued by Met Office as 80mph gales pummel Britain

Further delays to road, rail and air travel expected

Thursday 07 February 2019 09:28 GMT

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UK weather: The latest Met Office forecast

Atlantic gales up to 80mph have hit England and Wales, bringing travel delays and power cuts.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for wind across Wales and southern and central parts of England.

It advised the public there could be disruption to roads, rail, air and ferry travel, as well as possible blackouts.

Tall vehicles travelling on exposed roads and bridges should also expect to be delayed by the weather, according to forecasters.

Weather warnings for more strong winds are set to come into effect over the weekend.

Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

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1/62Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Snow covers houses in Gold Hill, in Shaftesbury, Dorset

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

People enjoying a walk through Whitelee Windfarm in North Ayrshire, Scotland

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Snow Rollers form in a field in Marlborough, Wiltshire. They are a rare meteorological phenomenon in which large snowballs are formed naturally as chunks of snow are blown along the ground by the wind. As they move they pick up snow on the way, in much the same way that the large snowballs used in snowmen are made.

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Two men help a driver try to get his car moving, after snowfalls yesterday and overnight have brought widespread disruption

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Snow dusts the Angel of the North sculpture and covers the ground surrounding it in Gateshead

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

A wintry scene at Nenthead in Cumbria after a band of wintry weather brought hill snow and a risk of ice to large parts of the country

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Children play in the snow in Hartley Wintney, in Hampshire

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

A dog walker in a street in Bristol

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

The River Forth in Stirling

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

A man walks past the Starbucks Coffee store at the Membury Services on the M4

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

A snowplough clears a road near in Shaftesbury, Dorset

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Ice crystals form on the windows of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

A couple walk through a frosty landscape near Ashford in Kent

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Ducks on a frozen near Merthyr Tydfil in Wales

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

A gate at the entrance to a farm near the village of Moscow in Ayrshire

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

People walk past the frozen Sefton Park Lake in Liverpool

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Partially frozen water on the River Clunie in Scotland

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

A frozen notice board at the allotments in Mudchute farm on the Isle of Dogs

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Snow on the hills around Buttermere in the Lake District

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

A man snowboards at Solomon's Temple in Buxton, Derbyshire

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

A couple walk through the Frost in Ashford, Kent

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

A woman walks through snow covered trees in Buxton, Derbyshire

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Altrincham, Greater Manchester

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Braemar, Scotland

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

3 wheel Reliant Robin in the snow off the A6 near the village of Shap in Cumbria

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

A red deer grazes in the snow, in Glen Etive, Scotland

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

People skiing along a road in West Didsbury

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

A Shetland pony gallops in a field in Tingwall on the Shetland Islands

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Morning fog floats through the valley at Tingwall

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Clare Strode and her 4 year old son Alejandro enjoy sledging on Camp Hill, Woolton

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Sheep surrounded by snow-covered fields near Balado in Fife

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Liverpool Airport which had to temporarily halted flights due to the severe weather

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

A husky dog enjoys a walk on Camp Hill, Woolton

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Snowmen on the banks of the River Cam in Cambridge

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

People walk along a snow covered road in Altrincham

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

People walk through snow on the banks of the River Cam in Cambridge

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

A train at Hunt's Cross station in Liverpool

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

A couple walk through a snowy park, in High Wycombe

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

A horse in a snowy field in the Divis Mountain area of Belfast

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

An out of service Ulsterbus travels along the Glenshane Pass in after heavy snowfall in Northern Ireland

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Network Rail on the railway in Kyleum, Scotland

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

A worker uses a bobcat to clear snow from a sidewalk alongside Nantasket Beach in Hull

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

A man walks his dog through the snow in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

A snow plough CLEARING TRACKS

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Heavy snow fall in Glasgow's West End

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

A woman walks through a snow shower in London

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Snow covers the ground in Cheshire

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Walkers on a snow-covered path outside the Peak View tea rooms near Macclesfield

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

A gritter from the Northern Ireland Department of Infrastructure clears the road during heavy snowfall on the Glenshane Pass

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Surfers take on the big waves at Tynemouth

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Frost covers the grass in Windsor Great Park, Berkshire while deer eat

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Snow fall on the beach at Whitley Bay, North Tyneside

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

People traverse the frosty river banks at the base of Pen y Fan mountain in the Brecon Beacons

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Walkers make their way along the Long Walk near Windsor Castle

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Farmhouses in Teesdale

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Members of the public make their way through a snow shower in the West End in Glasgow

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

A dog walker makes her way along the Long Walk near Windsor Castle

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

A car drives through a snow shower in London

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Heavy snowfall on the Glenshane Pass

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Seagulls on a frozen Marden Quarry in North Tyneside

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Snow covers the Killhope lead mining museum in County Durham

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Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures

Snow showers along the sea front at Whitley Bay

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The Queen Elizabeth II Bridge at the Dartford Crossing, a major commuter route across the River Thames, was closed for around three hours on Thursday morning due to unsafe wind speeds, Highways England said.

Essex Police warned motorists to expect long delays on roads in the area.

Overnight, 285 homes in Cornwall lost power due to the bad weather while others in the area experienced short outages of three minutes or less, Western Power Distribution said.

A 76mph gust was measured on Thursday morning in Capel Curig, north Wales, as well as a 67mph gust in Aberdaron on the country’s west coast.

In the south east of England, 54mph winds were measured in Langdon Bay in Kent and gusts of 52mph in Thorney Island, West Sussex.

The strongest wind measured by the Met Office overnight was 79mph on the Isle of Wight.

The gusts are expected to pick up again by midday on Friday, with a warning for then covering most of the UK and remaining in place until Saturday evening.

This will be accompanied by a warning for persistent heavy rain in Scotland, where as much as 60mm is forecast to fall over high ground. The Met Office said melting snow over the weekend would contribute to the risk of flooding.

It said there was also a risk of thunder and hail throughout the rest of the week.

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Meteorologist Mark Wilson advised motorists to take care.

He said: “Be mindful that there could be some tricky conditions on the roads, for example there will be strong winds that could affect transport, like high-sided vehicles crossing bridges, so there could be delays.”

Temperatures will stay mild on Thursday, with highs of 7C in Scotland and 10C in the south of England, Mr Wilson added.

The yellow weather warning runs from 12pm on Friday to 6pm on Saturday.

Additional reporting by Press Association

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