UK NEWS

BACK TO B-RRR! COLD BLAST ON WAY FROM U.S.

Wintery conditions in Birmingham earlier this month

Monday January 19,2009

By Sara Dixon

BRITAIN should brace itself for treacherous winter weather from America this week as snow, sleet and hail lash the country and temperatures return to sub-zero levels.

The terrible conditions which swept the UK over the weekend show no sign of easing with a fierce weather front sweeping the whole country, forecasters said.

The weekend saw gales of up to 100mph and torrential rain storms.

On Saturday a 30-year-old woman died when a tree fell on her car in Co Down, while an elderly woman was taken to hospital with serious injuries when the car she was travelling in struck a fallen tree in Virginia Water, Surrey.

Nearly 100 homes in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, were left without power on Saturday night after an electricity sub-station failed as the ferocious storms swept swiftly west across the country.

The high winds also brought down power lines in Gloucestershire leaving over 100 homes without electricity. A lightning bolt knocked out one of the world’s main coastguard stations on the Cornish coast.

The north of England will be very sleety, too, and squally winds will not be surprising, either

Met Office Forecaster Andy Bodenham

The Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Falmouth, which co-ordinates international sea rescues, was shut down at about 11pm after being struck.

The bolt damaged vital communications equipment and staff had to be evacuated. Train services between London and the South-west faced delays yesterday after a trampoline was blown on to the line near Bath, Somerset.

In other parts of the West Country, high winds caused havoc by bringing down signs, scaffolding and barriers, leaving a bus stranded and blowing over traffic lights.

In Scotland a 22-year-old surfer was rescued after drifting a mile out to sea in near-hurricane conditions.

Experts said the cold weather this coming week is blowing in from America – which has suffered one of its coldest winters in years.

Met Office Forecaster Andy Bodenham said: “It’s coming at us at such a rate of knots there’s no time for it to warm up over the ocean before it hits Britain.

“This could mean snow, sleet or rain and Scotland in particular will see some extremely heavy snow in the coming days.

“The north of England will be very sleety, too, and squally winds will not be surprising, either.”

The Met Office issued a severe weather warning for Scotland last night and warned drivers to take care on the roads. Snow showers are also forecast for the South.

Jonathan Powell, of Positive Weather Solutions, said: “For the next week the cold weather returns UK-wide as temperatures once again struggle to get into low single figures during the daytime.

“Values will drop away to around –2 to –3 overnight, providing a frost first thing and a return to scraping the ice off the cars.”