Snow weather warning issued for parts of the South

Parts of the South could see snow over the weekend after the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning.

The alert, which covers inland areas of Dorset, Hampshire, South Wiltshire and West Sussex along with much of the UK, takes effect at midday on Saturday (January 4th) and lasts until midnight on Sunday (January 5th).

While forecasters are warning of disruption, it's more likely that northern England, the Midlands and Wales are likely to see the most issues.

Here in the South, snow is likely to be more fleeting and restricted to areas of higher ground.

What can we expect?

• There is a small chance that power cuts will occur and other services, such as mobile phone coverage, may be affected

• There is a slight chance that some rural communities could become cut off

• There is a chance of travel delays on roads with some stranded vehicles and passengers, along with delayed or cancelled rail and air travel.

A Met Office spokesperson said:

"Outbreaks of rain spreading progressively northeastwards later on Saturday and overnight into Sunday will likely be preceded by a spell of snow on its northern flank.

"Whilst there is some uncertainty, any snow in southern and eastern parts of England, especially at low levels, will probably be rather transient before turning back to rain.

"However, some significant accumulations of snow are possible across parts of Wales, the Midlands and northern England in particular, at least for a time, where 5 cm or more could accumulate fairly widely, with perhaps as much as 20-30 cm over high ground of mid and north Wales and potentially 30-40 cm over parts of the Pennines.

"This, accompanied by strengthening winds, may lead to drifting of lying snow.

"In addition, as milder air moves northwards, snow may turn to a spell of freezing rain for a time, again more especially across parts of Wales, the Midlands and northern England, adding to the risk of ice and leading to some treacherous conditions in places.

"A fairly rapid thaw of lying snow is possible later on Sunday, although exactly how far north the rapid thaw will reach remains uncertain at this stage."

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