Wintry weather blasts back into Britain ahead of Easter break

Despite being British Summer Time, blizzards, gale force winds and torrential rain battered Scotland and Northern Ireland - knocking down power lines and causing widespread transport chaos.

EASTER BREAK LOOKS BLEAK AS WINTER BLASTS BACK INTO BRITAIN

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As the Arctic front swept in, police, mountain rescue and coastguards were drafted to the A73 in Scotland, after a coach carrying school children crashed - killing a 17-year-old and seriously injuring dozens of others.

WEATHER PICTURES: SNOW BATTERS BRITAIN

The Met Office has issued extreme weather warnings for both Scotland and Northern Ireland, forecasting more blizzards and severe drifting snow up to 50cm (20in) deep in parts.

The shock return of winter has seen a rise in holidaymakers fleeing for the Easter break, with around two million of us expected to flee to the sunnier climes of Spain and its islands this weekend.

While tourists heading abroad can expect sunshine, forecasters are warning those staying at home to prepare for a bleak long weekend, with comparatively low temperatures and heavy rain predicted.

Helen Chivers, forecaster for the Met Office, told Express.co.uk: "There will be unsettled weather for most of the weekend, with low pressure over the top of the country.

"We can expect typically mixed spring weather, with a mixture of sunny spells and rain [for the duration].

"Easter Sunday should be the best day, with not so many showers as the rest of the weekend.

"But Monday will be windy [with persistent] showers."

Roads are expected to be overcrowded as the first national rail strike in 16 years shuts down our rail network.

Travel organisation Abta said Tenerife was proving a popular destination for those determined to get some Easter sunshine.

Other destinations likely to welcome weather-weary Britons include Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Florida and the Dominican Republic.

For late-season skiers, Geneva is proving the most popular base from which to head for the slopes. Top Easter city break destinations include Paris, Amsterdam, Dublin, Milan and New York.

Abta said 575,000 will leave from Heathrow airport, 250,000 from Gatwick, 175,000 from Stansted and 60,000 from Luton. A further 15,000 will depart from Southampton.

From Scotland more than 155,000 will be leaving via the airports, with 58,000 flying from Glasgow, 75,000 from Edinburgh and 23,000 from Aberdeen.

From the north and the Midlands, 141,000 will leave from Manchester and 60,000 from Birmingham.

Abta said other regional airports and ferry terminals will also be extremely busy over the weekend, with 85,000 leaving on services run by Channel Tunnel high-speed rail company Eurostar.

Today's climes are expected to hover around zero for most of the day, with more gusty areas considerably colder.

"It's been a very snowy night, wind winds not helping as they cause deep drifts in places," Helen Chivers added.

"It's minus 7.4 in mountainous areas of Scotland, with County Antrim experiencing drifts of up to 4 feet as 30-40 cms of snow fell."

Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) said between 45,000 and 48,000 customers, mainly in the west and the north, have been cut off overnight after widespread damage ravaged its network.

At one point there were 600 individual faults reported, the firm said, with the biggest disruption being in Omagh, Enniskillen, Dungannon, Londonderry, Coleraine and Ballymena.

Poor visibility and strong winds were preventing workers from climbing poles, it added.

A spokesman for NIE said 450 engineers and workers were out helping restore supplies as soon as possible - and blamed the disruption on “unprecedented” weather.

“We have had unprecedented weather conditions, and are working to get people reconnected as soon as possible,” he said.

“Our crews are getting back out in the field again, we have 450 staff in the field.”

Police set up two rescue centres near Londonderry after more than 100 vehicles became stranded at the Glenshane pass.

One of the centres was also a casualty of the power failures, it emerged.

Drivers were taken to Dungiven Leisure Centre near Londonderry, but a blackout meant the site had to be switched to the Roe Leisure Centre in nearby Limavady.

Colin Brown, of Northern Ireland Roads Service, said he expected poor weather throughout the day.

“We are getting geared up for difficult day of rain turning to snow as we progress through the day and into the afternoon and evening.”

Scotland saw around 22,000 homes suffer power cuts yesterday, with people North Ayrshire the worst hit, but most properties were reconnected during the day.

People living in north-east Scotland were suffering some of the country’s worst weather today, with gale force northerly blizzards whipping up snow drifts. Big cities Glasgow and Edinburgh will see wetter conditions.

Snow ploughs and gritters were out yesterday across the country after cars and lorries became stranded in snow.

Ten lorries were stranded for several hours on the M90 close to Bridge of Earn in Perthshire, and two trucks also got into difficulty on the M8 near Edinburgh creating large tailbacks.

Two men also had a lucky escape after a 50ft tree fell on a car in Edinburgh city centre. The men were treated for shock but were uninjured, police said.

Among the roads closed today were the A68 at Soutra Hill in Lothian and Borders, and the A96 between Huntly and Colpy in Aberdeenshire.

Train services on the East Coast main line were also suspended north of Berwick after two landslips last night.

Network Rail said it was working to re-open the line today, diverting some services via Newcastle and Carlisle and using replacement buses.

Elsewhere, heavy rain led to the River Esk bursting its banks in Musselburgh.

Ferry firm Stena also said its sailings between Belfast and Stranraer were being delayed or cancelled.

Steve Ellison, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said the wintry weather would start to die away tonight and tomorrow, but it would remain unsettled in many parts.

He said: “There’s been quite a lot of snow falling over Scotland, especially over the higher ground. But places like Edinburgh can also expect a covering.

“It’s also going to be very windy again.

“A deep low pressure is moving across the UK at the moment, dragging in a lot of cold air from the north.”