Severe Weather Warning for SNOW, valid from 0900 Sunday through to 0900 Monday

Friday 9th December 2022

Issued by the Met Office:

Today and much of the weekend be mainly fine if cold across our region. Despite any brighter skies, daytime highs will struggle to make 3 or 4 Celsius at very best. Indeed, where any overnight freezing fog lingers, this most likely Sunday, temperatures may struggle to get much above freezing. Overnight lows will dip to minus 2 to minus 6 Celsius. Winds mainly light throughout.

Later Sunday and into Monday, sleet and snow showers may develop towards some coastal areas and move inland at times. Meanwhile, there is still plenty of uncertainty but we could also see some more prolonged snow in a few areas. At the moment that could well be much of Essex and perhaps parts of Hertfordshire and Suffolk. As a result of this potentially wintry weather, with 2 to 5cm of snow, a Yellow Warning for Snow has been issued for these areas and is valid from 0900 Sunday until 0900 Monday.

This warning brings a Very Low Likelihood of Medium Impacts - which means:

• There is a small chance of travel delays on roads with some stranded vehicles and passengers, along with delayed or cancelled rail and air travel
• There is a slight chance that some rural communities could become cut off
• There is a small chance that power cuts will occur and other services, such as mobile phone coverage, may be affected
• A small chance of injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces
• A small chance that untreated pavements and cycle paths become impassable

Once any more persistent snow clears Monday morning, the rest of next week should be mainly dry for much of the time for most. However, further wintry showers are likely to blow in from off the sea, especially for our coastal districts.

Low temperatures will continue to be cold or very cold next week, with daytime highs of 3 or 4 Celsius for many places and overnight lows generally of minus 1 to minus 4 Celsius. Our Cold Weather Alert remains at Level-3 for the East of England and is now valid until 0900 on Friday 16th December.

The Flood Guidance Statement is 'green' - and additional warnings may be issued nearer the time for fog and/or ice.