Storm Dave eases on Easter Sunday as amber alert lifted

An amber weather alert for parts of northern England, Scotland and Wales was lifted at 3am on Sunday.

Three yellow warnings across parts of northern England, Scotland and Wales had been due to remain in place until midday but were lifted by 7.30am as the weather improved.

The Met Office’s forecast for Easter Sunday said: “Storm Dave will clear northeast on Sunday morning, leaving sunshine and widespread showers across the UK.

“Northern areas will see the heaviest, blustery showers and feel cold, while temperatures elsewhere stay closer to average for early April.”

Read more: Storm Dave to 'deepen' as gale-force winds and snow hit Britain over Easter

Before the severe amber weather warning was lifted, the Met Office had forecast “severe gales” across central and northern areas of the country overnight into Sunday.

The storm has led to widespread disruption to road and rail travel, with multiple flood warnings still in place in some parts of the UK.

In the early hours of Sunday, Traffic Scotland warned that several major bridges had restrictions in place due to strong winds, including the Queensferry Crossing on the M90, which connects Edinburgh with Fife and the nearby Forth Road Bridge on the A9000.

The Humber Bridge linking East Yorkshire with north Lincolnshire reopened after being closed in both directions to high-sided and vulnerable vehicles early on Sunday due to strong winds, National Highways reported.

Meanwhile, ScotRail confirmed emergency speed restrictions would be implemented across parts of its network, resulting in longer travel times.

In England’s north, Network Rail Manchester announced rail replacement bus services would run between Manchester Piccadilly and Chester due to overnight weather conditions.

As of 7am on Sunday, there were four coastal flood warnings and 32 flood alerts across England and eight coastal flood alerts in Wales.

In Scotland, 12 flood warnings and eight flood alerts remained in place.