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Parts of UK blanketed in snow as flood warnings continue

The white stuff has been spotted across Scotland, as well as in parts of Cumbria, Northumberland, and Yorkshire.

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Winter weather February 24 2020

Northern parts of the UK were blanketed in snow on Monday morning, as further flood warnings have been issued across England and Wales.

The white stuff has been spotted across Scotland, as well as in parts of Cumbria, Northumberland, and Yorkshire.

In Leeming Bar, North Yorkshire, cars were pictured slowly making their way through the wintry conditions.

Elsewhere, on social media, people were reporting cold weather as far south as Leeds, sharing pictures of snow covering cars and gardens.

A yellow weather warning for snow is in place across the vast majority of Scotland, from the border, to north of Inverness, until late on Monday evening.

The Met Office has warned that rural communities could become stranded and told to expect delays and cancellations to travel plans by road, rail, and air.

Further south, yellow warnings for rain and snow are also covering Northern Ireland and the north of England.

In Cumbria, police were warning drivers to exercise caution, and described conditions on the roads as “hazardous”.

As well as the chill, flood waters were still causing risks across the country.

On Monday morning, one severe threat-to-life flood warning was in place for the River Severn at Shrewsbury, alongside more than 90 other flood warnings, and 182 less serious flood alerts across England and Wales.

The warnings and alerts stretched from St Ives, in south west Cornwall to Carlisle near the Scottish border.

Over the weekend, an Environment Agency spokesman said ongoing flooding is possible for parts of the West Midlands, along the Severn and Wye and also in parts of the north of England, including in the lower River Aire in Yorkshire.

WEATHER Storm
(PA Graphics)

He said: “This rain is falling on saturated catchments where river levels are already high.”

The bleak outlook follows more than a fortnight of downpours and flooding that started with Storm Ciara, continued with Storm Dennis and kept going with the weekend’s storms, which, contrary to some reports, have not been named by the Met Office.

Over the weekend, Environment Secretary George Eustice, defended the Prime Minister for not visiting flood-stricken areas, despite a third consecutive weekend of stormy weather.

Mr Eustice told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday: “In a Cabinet Government it’s not a one-man show, it’s right that on certain operational things such as this that the Prime Minister will ask one of his Cabinet members to lead, I can’t see anything wrong with that.”

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