New UK weather warnings for snow and ice as sporting events cancelled

A fresh yellow weather warning for snow and ice has been issued by the Met Office for large parts of the UK.

Forecasters say the latest alert will cover much of the Midlands, Yorkshire and north and central Wales.

Roads and railways are “likely to be affected” by the conditions, with longer journey times by road, bus and train, the Met Office said.

Manchester United football team’s flight to Newcastle was cancelled ahead of their game on Saturday evening.

The men’s team is having to travel to the north-east by coach instead due to the bad weather conditions.

It comes as heavy snow overnight forced Glasgow Airport to ground all flights for several hours on Saturday morning.

Despite crews “working through the night” airport bosses had to suspend arrivals and departures due to “heavier than forecast snow”.

Two flights bound for Glasgow had to be diverted to Prestwick and Edinburgh airports.

Glasgow Airport said flights resumed just after 10:00 GMT, but disruption is still expected and passengers are urged to check with their airline.

An amber alert has been issued for snow in Cumbria for the rest of Saturday, as the Met Office said there could be 10cm to 15cm of snow falling in some areas, followed by showers overnight.

Travel disruption is possible as well as a “good chance” that some rural communities could become cut off” and be affected by power cuts.

Elsewhere, the freeze is set to continue over the weekend with several sporting events across the UK cancelled due to snow and icy conditions.

Eleven football matches in the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) have been postponed due to snow and freezing temperatures.

The FA Cup tie between Alfreton Town and Walsall was dramatically called off with just minutes to go before kick-off after checks were made on the frozen pitch as a BBC TV crew was set to film the second round tie.

Crewe Alexandra’s FA Cup tie against Bristol Rovers has also been called off, while Saturday’s high-profile racing fixture at Newcastle has been abandoned due to snow on the track.

The latest Met Office yellow weather warning will run into Sunday.

But, previous yellow warnings issued on Friday for the northern coast and south-west Scotland, as well as the South West and the eastern coast of England came to an end on Saturday morning.

Separately, an amber cold-health alert issued by the UK Health Security Agency remains in place for five regions in England.

Cold weather is likely to affect the whole health service, with the potential for the entire population to be at risk, the agency’s alert says.

The alert is in place for the East Midlands, West Midlands, North West, North East and Yorkshire and the Humber until 5 December.

Temperatures of between -3°C (27F) to -6°C (21F) were widely experienced across the UK on Friday, even in major towns and cities.

It was -5°C in Manchester and Edinburgh and -3°C in south-west London and Birmingham.

The lowest temperature recorded on Friday was -9.4°C in Shap in Cumbria, the Met Office said.

Additional reporting by Rachel Russell.

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