Office closures and travel warnings as snow sweeps UK

People across the country are remaining at home as weather conditions worsen

Amber warnings have been issued by the Met Office between 10am Wed 28th and 6pm Thu 1st this week, with red alerts issued in Scotland.

Temperatures have dropped to lows of almost -12 degrees Celsius overnight, or 11 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the BBC.

Unusual for this time of year, hundreds of schools have been closed and even some hospitals have even had to cancel outpatient appointments due to staff shortages.

National rail is facing major disruption nationwide, with train companies c2c, CrossCountry, Greater Anglia, London Overground, Merseyrail, Northern, ScotRail, South Western Railway, Southeastern, Stansted Express, TfL Rail, TransPennine Express, Virgin Trains and Virgin Trains East Coast all facing cancellations.

Damage to roads and tracks in some areas of Britain have led to the disruption of Airlines too, with more than 100 flights cancelled at Heathrow alone.

East Hertford and trains to Cambridge and London Stansted have also been affected due to wire problems blocking all lines at Broxbourne.

Rural areas have been particularly affected, with amber warnings directed at the North East expected to leave roads blocked by heavy and persistent snow.

Scottish residents in particular have been warned by the Met Office that they may be cut off from travel, power and mobile phone networks for several days.

Cars in some areas of the country are being left abandoned on the side of the road as traffic reaches a standstill in major areas.

Other key areas affected include the M1, which is closed southbound due to a serious collision, and potential power outages in Northern Ireland and Cornwall.

Record lows for this time of year could be on the way for London residents, with an expected low of -9 °C beating the previous record of -4 °C for February 28th, according to Weather Underground.

Essex residents will even find that public services such as bin collection have been suspended.

‘Beast from the East’, ‘Siberian bear’ and even ‘Snow Cannon’ are the nicknames being used to describe the weather across Europe, which will shortly be followed by a southern attack by Storm Emma.

Regions of Spain and Italy have also been gripped by the bracing blizzard, with snow reported across the Mediterranean.

Expected to collide with Storm Emma this Thursday, fierce weather conditions could leave workers stranded at home and left out in the cold as late as this weekend.

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