Severe weather warning for snow issued for Shropshire

After a cold and mainly clear Saturday, cloud, sleet and snow returned to Shropshire overnight, leaving a thin covering of snow in areas.

The Met Office had issued its third severe weather warning for the region in as many days, predicting between one and three centimetres of snow in low areas and temperatures as low as -3C. However much of the county has seen only rain and sleet fall overnight.

The Met Office said: "Outbreaks of sleet and snow will spread from the North West on Saturday, initially into western Scotland, and then into parts of north-west England later in the day before reaching the Midlands and southern England during the evening and night.

"One to three centimetres of snowfall is likely at low levels with 5-10cm possible above 200 metres across western Scotland and Cumbria.

"Ice may prove an additional hazard in places.

The yellow 'be aware' alert was the same low level as the office's previous two alerts and was valid from 11am on Saturday until 6am on Sunday. Motorists were advised to expect hazardous conditions and to prepare for delays.

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Gritting teams from Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Powys councils have been out in force to ensure major routes are treated.

Charlotte Dade, of Telford & Wrekin Council, said the weather is being continually assessed.

She added: "We assess specialist weather forecasts we receive regularly every day from mid October to mid April to decide whether we grit or not and our teams review this overnight as necessary to take account of changing weather conditions.

"When there is a risk of ice or snow we grit the council's approved network covering over 400 km of roads in the borough treating all A and B roads as well as a number of other routes."

Network Rail said it also had thousands of rail engineers working "day and night" to prevent delays in travel.

Temperatures are likely to reach just 2C (36F) during the days this weekend, dropping to -2C (28F) at night.

That compares to the South Pole's Rothera Point, which is around -1C (30F), although officially Antartica is in summer.

Public Health England today urged people, especially the elderly, to stay inside and keep warm, and advised house temperatures be kept to a minimum of 18C.

The prospect of a dry but cold weekend is a relief to people in the Welsh village of Eglwyswrw, where it has been raining for 81 days in a row. The village, in West Wales, is just short of a record of 89 days of rain in a row set in Scotland in 1923.