North West England: severe weather warnings

Location weather forecasts:

(Skip to warnings)

Weather warnings overview

Flash and Early warnings have been issued for North West England

Map regions coloured show where severe weather warnings have been issued.

The Met Office has responsibility for providing weather warnings for the UK.

For further information on the impacts caused by the weather go to our severe impacts severe weather impact links.

Flash warnings of severe or extreme weather

These are issued when the Met Office has 80% or greater confidence that severe weather is expected in the next few hours.

Local areas affected

Warning type

Valid from

Valid to

North West England:

	Blackburn with Darwen
	Cheshire
	Cumbria
	Gtr Manchester
	Lancashire

Blizzards, Drifting Snow & Heavy Snow

0001 Thu 4

1400 Thu 4

A band of snow, some heavy, will spread from the west during the early hours of Thursday and continue during the morning, clearing away eastwards and becoming confined to northeastern England by the early afternoon. Accumulations of up to 5cm are expected in many areas, and on high ground 10 to 15cm could occur, with blizzards and considerable drifting in the strong, occasionally gale force southerly or southeasterly winds.

The public are advised to take extra care and refer to the 'Highways Agency' for further advise on traffic disruption on motorways and trunk roads.

Issued at: 2158 Wed 3 Dec

Early warnings of severe or extreme weather

These are issued when the Met Office has 60% or greater confidence that severe weather is expected in the next few days.

Risk of disruption

Warning

Valid from

Valid to

North West England:

80%	Cumbria
60%	Blackburn with Darwen
60%	Cheshire
60%	Gtr Manchester
60%	Lancashire

Blizzards, Drifting Snow & Heavy Snow

0000 Thu 4

1800 Thu 4

There is a high risk of a severe weather event affecting parts of Scotland and the northern half of England. Snow spreading from the west on Wednesday evening will become persistent and heavy at times by the early hours of Thursday morning, eventually clearing away eastwards from England by Thursday afternoon and from most of Scotland by the evening. On low lying ground there is the potential for 2 to 5 cm of snow to accumulate, while on ground above about 150 metres accumulations of 10 to 20 cm are expected, with blizzard conditions and considerable drifting in strong winds. This is likely to cause disruption to travel networks, particularly across higher level routes.

This warning is likely to be superceded by Flash warnings.

Issued at: 1122 Wed 3 Dec

Advisory of severe or extreme weather

These advisories are issued by 1100 daily as routine and indicate confidence of expected severe or extreme weather. Early warnings and Flash Warnings supersede advisories when confidence levels are 60% or greater.