A major road across the Pennines has been closed as an Arctic blast brought snow, ice and freezing temperatures to Scotland and northern England.
The Met Office said widespread travel disruption was likely on Friday as it issued two yellow warnings that will remain in place until noon. Freezing temperatures have led to a four-day health alert for cold weather.
In Scotland, the warning is for snow showers as deep as 10cm on high ground and 2cm on low ground. Freezing temperatures could make driving dangerous, forecasters say, and journey times for people could be longer.
In large parts of northern England, the warning is for rain, sleet and snow which could mean slippery pavements, icy roads and disruption to public transport. On high ground, above 300 metres, there could be 10cm of snow settling.
On Friday morning, National Highways said the A66 was closed between the A67 near Bowes in County Durham and the A685 near Brough in Cumbria because of “concentrated snowfall”.
It said: “National Highways area team crews are on scene with winter treatment vehicles working to clear and treat the carriageway, however forecasts predict that snowfall will continue in the area throughout the morning.
“Units from Cumbria police are also on scene assisting to clear the traffic. Road users travelling across the Pennines are advised to plan ahead and consider alternate routes.”
Forecasters said an Arctic maritime air mass was bringing colder temperatures southwards. As a result of that, the UK Health Security Agency issued yellow alerts for cold weather across northern England and the Midlands from 6am on Friday until 8am on Monday.
The alerts warn of a greater risk to life of vulnerable people and increased use of healthcare services by vulnerable people.
The wintry weather comes after a strikingly wet start to 2026 for large parts of the UK. People in parts of Devon, Cornwall and Worcestershire had rain for 40 days, the Met Office said this week.
On Friday in England there were 76 flood warnings and 154 flood alerts in place. In Wales there were four flood alerts.
For others it was the absence of sun, with Aberdeen going through 21 days of sunless weather until, finally, it came out for about 30 minutes on Thursday afternoon.
While it was a cold, frosty and tricky day for many people on Friday, there is at least a chance of better weather on the way. Marco Petagna, a Met Office forecaster, said Saturday would probably be “the best day we’ve seen for some time” with “a lot of sunshine across the UK”.
He said temperatures would be “cooler than average” but this would be “offset by the sunshine”.
