Yorkshire braced for 'unsettled' start to 2025 with snow and strong winds
Weather warnings are in place for snow and wind on New Years Day.
Yorkshire is braced for an "unsettled" start to 2025 with snow, rain and wind expected to cause travel disruption over New Year's Eve.
Yellow warnings have been issued by the Met Office between Monday and Thursday.
On New Year's Eve, delays to all types of transport are "likely" as strong winds persist and may reach speeds of up to 70mph in England and Northern Ireland, the forecaster warned.
An alert for wind is in place from 7am until 11pm on Tuesday and covers most of Northern Ireland as well as just north of York in England up to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Greenock.
The following day at 9am the wind warning expands to cover the rest of Yorkshire and England, accompanied by a yellow warning for snow.
Senior Met Office forecaster Craig Snell said: "Moving into New Year's Eve, another system moves in from the Atlantic, again, Scotland bearing the brunt of this one with some further heavy rain and snow and strong winds.
"The winds also picking up for Northern Ireland and northern England through New Year's Eve as well, with rain arriving into that part of the world - basically quite an unsettled last day of the year for the northern half of the UK."
"To the south, we will see some rain later on New Year's Eve, but it shouldn't cause too many problems, apart from if you're out celebrating - you might get a bit damp."
He added: "The main bit of advice from the Met Office over the coming days is, with the celebrations and people on the move throughout the new year and Hogmanay period, is the keep checking the forecast and to stay up to date with that."
Those with travel plans should allow extra time for journeys and keep updated with flood alerts and warnings, Mr Snell said.
"With the multiple hazards going on across the UK, I think we can probably expect some travel delays right across the UK," he added.
The A66 in Cumbria has reopened to high-sided vehicles after being closed for several hours due to strong winds while CalMac Ferries said services on the west coast of Scotland were cancelled or at risk of disruption.
The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company said it was monitoring conditions and sailings between Douglas and Heysham were at risk or disruption.
The new year will be off to a turbulent start with separate weather warnings in place for snow, wind and rain on January 1.
Up to 25cm of snow could fall in the worst affected areas, including Central Tayside and Fife, the East Midlands, northern England and the Lothian borders.
Very strong winds of up to 60mph are forecast across the whole of England and Wales all day Wednesday and into Thursday morning, with gusts of 75mph likely around coastal areas and hills, according to the Met Office.
The alert for wind is in place from 9am on Wednesday until 6am on Thursday.
Residents should prepare by checking for loose items outside their homes and planning how to secure them, the Met Office warned.
Temperatures on New Year's Day are expected to reach between 10 to 12C in southern England with chillier conditions of around 5 to 7C further north.
The remainder of the week will be much colder, with widespread frost across the country predicted on Thursday night, the forecaster added.