Hundreds of schools shut as UK plunges to -6C before Storm Bert

Many Britons again faced freezing temperatures overnight ahead of a frosty and icy morning on Friday and the arrival of Storm Bert on the weekend. The storm is set to reach the UK on Saturday and the Met Office is expecting it to bring “heavy rain, strong winds and disruptive snow to parts of the UK through the weekend”, potentially causing travel disruption and flooding.

Overnight on Thursday, the Met Office said much of the UK experienced temperatures near freezing, with the mercury falling as low as minus 6C at Tulloch Bridge in Scotland. The forecasting body said many will wake up to a frost with icy surfaces in places with several yellow warnings for snow and ice in place across the UK until 10am on Friday.

One covering parts of Scotland is in effect until midday before a slew of further yellow alerts for wind, rain and snow go live on Saturday. An amber alert for heavy snow and ice will be in force between 7am and 5pm on Saturday in an area north of Scotland’s central belt, where 10-20cm is likely on ground above 200 metres and potentially as much as 20-40cm on hills above 400 metres.

The warning covers parts of Angus, Perth and Kinross, Stirlingshire, Aberdeenshire and some of the Highlands and Argyll and Bute. Met Office meteorologist Honor Criswick said: “Through into Friday… snow showers are set to continue mainly around coastal areas though once again still a few feeding inland at times.

“There will also still be plenty of autumnal sunshine. Still feeling cold though, particularly in those brisk winds – once again we’re only looking at highs of around 5C, slightly higher in the south west around 7C. Across the north those temperatures struggling to move past 2-3C.

“As we head into Friday evening, a change is on its way as we introduce Storm Bert moving its way in from the Atlantic. So we’ll see clouds spilling in from the south west with outbreaks of rain – heavy at times by the time we reach Saturday morning.”

Ms Criswick said there are likely to be “heavy” outbreaks of rain throughout Saturday, “falling as snow” at times across northern parts of England and parts of Scotland. The wintry weather affected education, with more than 114 schools shut in the Highland Council area on Thursday because of snow, including Inverness Royal Academy where pupils were told their prelim exams planned for the day will be rescheduled.

Almost 40 schools in Aberdeenshire were also shut while many others had delayed openings and in Moray around 12 were closed and others opened late. It comes after more than 100 schools or nurseries were closed in Scotland on Wednesday because of the weather.

South of the border, 89 schools were shut in Devon on Thursday, 18 in Dorset and 60 in Cornwall, while in Wales around 10 were closed in Conwy, 18 in Denbighshire and two in Wrexham.