Amber snow and ice warnings issued as Arctic air spreads across the UK

Amber severe weather warnings for snow and ice have been issued by the Met Office with numerous other yellow warnings across the United Kingdom as we start the new year.

Arctic air is spreading across the UK with the beginning of a lengthy period of colder weather.

With lower temperatures, amber cold health alerts from the UK’s Health Security Agency (UKHSA) cover the whole of England.

There could be some disruption to travel plans as the wintry weather and warnings continue into the weekend.

New year revellers in southern England saw temperatures below freezing around midnight and there was a widespread frost on the first morning of 2026.

Overnight lows fell to -6.2C in Bournemouth and -2.5C in Cardiff, with temperatures widely below zero elsewhere across southern England and South Wales.

Further north, cloud and patchy rain prevented most areas from falling below freezing but with colder Arctic air moving in, heavy snow has begun to fall in Northern Scotland.

With snow showers expected in Northern Scotland, a Met Office yellow warning is in force until 23:59 on Friday where there’ll widely be around 2-5cm, locally up to 15cm of snow.

But with heavier and more frequent snow in Angus, Perth and Kinross, Grampian, Aberdeenshire, Moray and parts of the Highlands, a more severe amber warning will come into effect at 12:00 GMT Friday until 12:00 Saturday.

Accumulations of 10-20cm are likely at low levels with 30-40cm possible on high ground with some drifting and blizzards.

Delays on the roads with the risk of vehicles becoming stranded are possible.

Some rural communities could also be cut off, according to the Met Office.

Elsewhere on New Year’s Day cloud and rain will clear southward leaving a lot of dry and sunny weather.

But, with a strong northerly wind it will feel cold despite temperatures of 1 to 7C.

Overnight into Friday an area of rain, sleet and snow will spread through Northern Ireland, Wales, parts of north-west England, the Midlands and southern England.

A Met Office yellow warning has been issued for large parts of England and Wales from midnight on Friday until 12:00 GMT on 2 January.

A separate yellow warning is in place for Northern Ireland between midnight and 10am on Friday,

Snowfall may last a couple of hours, with 1-2cm possible at low levels and up to 5cm of snow over the higher ground of Wales and the southern Pennines so new year travel disruption is possible.

Another area of snow showers will feed in across eastern coastal areas England during Saturday.

Here, another Met Office yellow warning has been issued for all of Saturday where around 1-3 cm of snow is likely to accumulate quite widely, with 5-8 cm possible in places such as the North York Moors.

Meanwhile the frequent snow showers will continue in northern Scotland right through until the weekend.

Strong winds on Saturday will bring blizzards and drifts of snow with the north-west Highlands and Grampians perhaps seeing as much as 60cm of snow by the end of the weekend.

An additional Met Office yellow warning is in force for northern and western Scotland covering the whole weekend.

Temperatures will be around 3-5C at best with some parts of Scotland and northern England experiencing ‘ice-days’ where temperatures won’t rise above freezing.

These low temperatures with widespread overnight frosts are expected to continue well into next week.

Stay up to date with the latest forecast on the BBC Weather website or app as details are likely to change.