UK weather: ‘Danger to life’ health alert extended for entire country as snow shuts schools in -14C freeze

A 'DANGER to life' health alert has been extended for the entire country as snow shut schools in a -14C freeze.

Amber and yellow warnings for snow and ice have been issued by the Met Office across Scotland and coastal areas in England and Wales on Thursday.

An amber warning for snow is currently in place in northern Scotland, the Orkney and Shetland Islands until 6pm on Thursday, with the potential of up to 20cm more snowfall.

The cold warning has sparked a health alert extended for the entire country.

Parts of Shetland already saw around 23 to 24cm of snow on Wednesday, while snowfall even reached the far south-east of England.

Other parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland have a yellow snow and ice warning spanning the whole of Thursday.

Meanwhile the north and northwest of the UK are likely to see further wintry outbreaks over the next 24 hours.

Separate, shorter snow and ice warnings have also been issued for Wales and south-west England, from 10pm on Wednesday to 11am on Thursday, and in eastern England from 1am to midday on Thursday, as both areas could see wintry showers that lead to icy patches.

A final yellow ice warning for south-east England, in particular south-east London, will run until 10am on Thursday.

Head of Extreme Events and Health Protection at UKHSA Agostinho Sousa warned Brits as they could face a dangerous health risk.

He said: "The temperatures we will see leading into the week ahead can rapidly have serious impact on the health of those over the age of 65 and those with pre-existing health condition as it increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes and chest infections.

"It is therefore vital to check in on friends, family and neighbours to ensure they are well prepared for the cold weather next week."

Marco Petagna, meteorologist at the Met Office, said: "At the moment we've got a northernly air flow and with the sea temperatures being about eight to 12 degrees there is that extra energy around the coasts and that northern wind to get the showers pushing down.

"Because the land temperatures are below freezing there's not the energy there for the showers to develop, so most of the showers are feeding down in that northernly flow into areas exposed to northerly winds.

"That's why Scotland, Northern Ireland and the east and west coasts of the UK are seeing most of the showers."

Conditions will be clearer with more sunshine inland on Thursday and very cold by night under clear skies, Mr Petagna said.

While another frosty night is forecast into Friday it will be breezier with more cloud in places, but lows of -10C will again be likely in some areas.

Wind coming in from the Atlantic in the west will then take charge through Friday and into Saturday, bringing much milder, wet and windy weather for the weekend.

A yellow weather warning for wind has also been issued for Sunday across the UK - except Shetland and south east England.

The warning runs for 24 hours from 6am on Sunday, and the Met Office warned winds of up to 70mph could hit exposed coasts, with up to 60mph inland.

All schools in Shetland and Orkney were closed on Thursday amid the wintry conditions.

In Aberdeenshire around 130 schools were shut while others had delayed openings.

In Moray nine schools and nurseries were closed due to the weather while others had late or staggered starts.

Meanwhile, firefighters in Staffordshire are urging people to take care around frozen water after the puppy drowned in Hanley Park, Stoke-on-Trent.

They said the pup was believed to have chased some geese after escaping from its harness and it plunged into the water after a layer of ice shattered under its weight.

Firefighters wearing dry suits entered the water to retrieve the dog and gave it oxygen therapy, but it later died.

It comes after the UK had its coldest night of the winter so far on Tuesday into Wednesday, when Dalwhinnie in the Scottish Highlands experienced a temperature of -14C.