FROSTED GLASS
Bizarre freezing rain phenomenon caught on camera as forecasters warn UK set to become an ice rink
FREEZING rain has turned streets around Britain into ice rinks as Storm Emma grips.
The rare phenomenon sees rain freeze almost instantly when it strikes a cold surface.
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It creates ice that is incredibly clear - making it very difficult to spot to the naked eye.
Walking or driving on it is extremely hazardous.
Swanage in Dorset awoke this morning to its streets covered in it.
It has also formed on car windows and on homes.
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Its arrival prompted the RAC to issue a warning earlier this week following similar ones from forecasters.
According to the Met Office freezing rain tends to start its life as snow, ice, sleet or hail, but passes through a layer of air that’s above 0C on the way down to the ground, melting into a liquid water droplet.
If these droplets then fall through a zone of sub-zero air just above the ground, they become supercooled.
When these supercooled droplets strike surfaces that are close to or below freezing, they freeze on impact forming a glaze of ice.
What we know so far:
- Eleven people including a seven-year-old girl have now died in the wintry conditions
- Motorists stranded on the roads face spending a second night trapped in their cars
- A completely frozen car was pictured in north London after a water pipe burst and an incredible video of a man jumping onto a snow-covered trampoline went viral
- The military has been pulled in to help clear traffic after hundreds of drivers were stranded overnight on Britain's roads
- Brits have been told the country is 'not out of the woods' as another icy blast is expected over the weekend
- A number of councils and police forces have declared major incidents in the freezing conditions
- Football matches have been
- At least 9,000 have been left without electricity in the north of the country as power supplies suffer in the chill
- Hundreds of flights in and out of UK and Irish airports have been cancelled today
- A heroic bus driver managed to avoid disaster by swerving her bus around an out of control car on the snow
- Travellers were forced to huddle under blankets and makeshift shelters on stranded trains, cars and at airports overnight
- Eleven people including a seven-year-old girl have now died in the wintry conditions
- Many Brits have seen non-urgent ops postponed due to staff shortages and a lack of beds in some hospitals, as NHS bosses warn of the 'perfect storm' of the storm, norovirus and flu
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It rarely occurs in the UK but is common across parts of the US.
It comes as BRITS are in for a final icy blast this weekend with forecasters warning the country is "not out of the woods yet".
The treacherous conditions brought in by Storm Emma and the Beast From The East are set to continue as the UK shivers in freezing temperatures with sleet, gusts and floods expected to hit.
Police forces and travel companies have urged Brits to stay indoors as the death toll rose to ten and stranded cars built up overnight.
A red weather warning - the second in 24 hours - expired at 2am, but amber warnings for snow are still in place for much of Scotland, the North East of England, and parts of Northern Ireland, running until 10am, and for wind and snow in south western parts of the UK until 8am.
Worse is expected to come today as the Environment Agency triggered ten flood warnings – meaning people should take immediate action to protect themselves.
Train passenger records being stranded on broken down train all night as Storm Emma continues to cause weather mayhem
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Thousands of homes are without electricity in the north west of England as temperatures remain sub-zero after the two severe weather systems clashed last night.
Met Office meteorologist Steven Keates said: "We are not out of the woods yet. There's further snow to come, as well as a wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain.
"Even parts of London and the South East are not immune to seeing more snow through the afternoon - not as much as yesterday, but still enough to cause further disruption."
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