Warning to motorists as snow falls overnight

The Highways Agency issued a severe weather alert for much of northern England and the Midlands as snow fell following sub-zero temperatures overnight.

A spokesman said conditions could be tricky until around 1pm adding: “Customers are advised to take extra care when travelling due to increased risk from adverse driving conditions.

The Highways Agency’s warning comes after the Met Office issued a yellow warning of snow and ice for North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, the East Riding, South Yorkshire and North East Lincolnshire overnight.

After what is expected to be the warmest winter on record, the arrival of meteorological spring is being marked by this wintry spell which is set to see as much as 10cm of snow on high ground and severe gales in some places.

In the UK, blustery weather is expected during Wednesday morning across south-west Wales and south-west England where isolated gusts of 70mph are possible around exposed coasts, with gusts of 50mph inland.

But while Storm Jake will make its way to the UK, the strongest winds will hit Ireland, and the impact on the UK will not be as great as what people have experienced with previously named storms.

Areas including Manchester, Newcastle, Scarborough and Leeds can expect to see a marked drop of around 5C (41F) or 6C (42.8F) on Wednesday after balmier temperatures of 10C (50F) or 11C (33.8) the previous day.

The Met Office is due to process the final set of winter temperature readings from weather stations around the UK this week, with 2015/16 expected to be the warmest in some parts since the 17th century.

Preliminary data for the central England temperature series showed an average temperature of 7C (44.6F) this winter, beating a previous high of 6.8C (44.2F) set in 1659.

Early figures also indicate this winter has been the second wettest on record and the warmest for the whole of England and Wales in records dating back to 1910.

The average total rainfall across the country over the winter was 515mm (20.2 inches), coming second only to 2013/2014, which saw widespread storms and flooding.

COUNCIL SERVICES:

Bins (inc recycling and waste): Crews are out on the main roads. Side roads and untreated roads are being assessed on a street by street basis, with crews going where it’s safe to do so. Any streets that are missed today will be revisited tomorrow. Some Household Waste Recycling Centres were temporarily closed for gritting this morning but are now open as usual except Eastwood, which we expect to open in the next hour.

Roads (inc gritting, salt bins and road closures): All gritters are out clearing precautionary routes. Once all precautionary routes are clear we will start clearing priority routes.

School closures: Please see www.calderdale.gov.uk

Home care: No reports of disruption in Home Care. If your home care or day care service is disrupted due to adverse weather your home care / day care provider will call you or your representative to inform you of any changes to your care provision. If you are concerned about your care provision please contact Gateway to Care on 01422 393000 between 8.45am and 5.30pm from Monday to Thursday, and 8.45am to 5pm on Friday.

Bereavement Services: All services at Park Wood and cemeteries are running as normal.

Transport: The Special Educational Needs transport service has suffered disruption this morning due to the adverse weather. We understand no decisions have been made about any early school closure as yet. We will review the afternoon transport service at 1pm today.

Registrars: Open as normal.

Libraries: Open as normal.

The Met Office has issued a yellow alert for snow, which is valid from 9pm on Thursday, March 3, until 3pm on Friday, March 4. Calderdale Council said it will continue to monitor the situation.