UK weather: Several vaccination centres still closed as Storm Darcy brings -17C freeze

10 February 2021, 07:05

The coldest night of the winter so far in the UK has been recorded as minus 16.7C in the Scottish Highlands, as snow and ice continue to cause disruption to vaccinations in some areas.

The temperature at Altnaharra was recorded on Tuesday and is the coldest temperature recorded there since 2010, Met Office spokesperson Nicola Maxey said.

Temperatures could also plunge below zero on Wednesday night into Thursday, but the Met Office said that conditions across the UK are set to get milder towards the weekend.

Meanwhile police in Norfolk warned of blizzard-like conditions and said many roads had fallen victim to snowdrifts and blockages, as they urged people not to travel if they can avoid it.

Officers attended a number of minor road traffic collisions on Monday and police in King's Lynn said that a lorry got stuck in a snowdrift and had to be towed out by farmers.

And in Suffolk a lorry has overturned, closing a stretch of the A12 Southbound.

More than 380 schools in Norfolk were closed to all children, including vulnerable children and those of key workers, on Tuesday due to the adverse weather.

Vaccination centres in Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk and Clacton on Sea and Colchester in Essex remained closed on Tuesday due to the severe weather.

On Wednesday, it has already been announced that Clacton Hospital and Colchester United vaccination centres would remain closed due to poor weather conditions.

Blizzards in Scotland causes chaos on slippy roads

Ms Maxey said there was anecdotal evidence that 10cm to 15cm of snow fell in south east coastal areas at the start of the week.

"There's still a risk of snow anywhere down the eastern side of the UK," she said.

"We're in these cold easterly winds.

"The cold air crosses from Russia and eastern Europe, crosses the sea, picks up some moisture then when it hits the land you see rain or because the air's so cold you see snow."

Some snow is likely to continue through Tuesday and Wednesday but "more showery rather than large accumulations", she said.

Storm Darcy continues to cause disruption across parts of UK

Ms Maxey said the UK had a "glancing blow from the northern edge" of Storm Darcy, which crossed northern Europe and was named by the Dutch weather service.

She said Storm Darcy pulled away from the UK on Monday.

Temperatures will widely be below freezing overnight across the country and in low single figures in the daytime on Tuesday and Wednesday, she said.

"It certainly looks as though towards the end of the weekend we might see daytime temperatures move up a little bit," said Ms Maxey.

"Certainly by the time you get to Sunday in London you might be looking at quite widely 6C.

"So less cold, but expectations are that Wednesday into Thursday might be the coldest night of the spell so far and then we see things pick up a little bit."