UK weather: Storm Darcy leads to heavy snow and ice

A snow plough on the A66 near Bowes in County Durham where the road was closed due to heavy snow

Heavy snow and ice has brought disruption to parts of the UK, with coronavirus vaccination centres and schools shutting in some areas.

Yellow warnings for snow cover much of England and Scotland, as well as parts of Northern Ireland until Wednesday.

Police have warned people not to travel, with long delays expected and road closures in some parts.

On Monday, 30cm (12in) of snow fell in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, while up to 22cm fell in parts of the east of England.

Heavy snowfall and temperatures as low as -15C have been forecast for parts of Scotland, with the Met Office issuing an amber warning for snow for areas including Perthshire, Stirlingshire and Fife from 03:00 to 21:00 on Tuesday.

Further south temperatures could get as low as -10C, BBC Weather's Billy Payne said, in what he described as the most significant cold spell since the Beast from the East three years ago.

"We'll see further snow showers over the next couple of days and widespread overnight frosts and ice with temperatures for some not rising above freezing," he said.

The Met Office said it was "bitterly cold" due to Storm Darcy's strong easterly winds, with temperatures in parts of the UK around freezing.

The AA said "treacherous driving conditions" had caused "numerous" accidents.

Some roads were closed in Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Cumbria, Derbyshire and Hertfordshire, with police forces in parts of East Anglia warning drivers some roads had become "impassable".

• In pictures: Storm Darcy brings snow to UK

• Check the forecast in your area

• Vaccination centres and schools shut

National Rail told train passengers that services across the country were likely to be affected by the conditions and said it may be necessary to close some routes.

Southern Rail cancelled services in south-east London, while networks in Kent and Essex also closed train lines.

Abandoned cars in a snowy ditch in Suffolk on Monday

This snowplough was out in action in Ipswich

The conditions led to some vaccination centres being closed, including several in Essex and Suffolk, as well as in Surrey and Norfolk.

And a number of schools also had to close across the south-east of England and Lincolnshire.

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In Suffolk, a man who is thought to have been kitesurfing died on Sunday after being found on a beach in stormy conditions.

Emergency services were called after reports of a person in the North Sea off Walberswick and the man was later found on the shore by members of the public. He died at the scene.

BBC Weather forecaster Nick Miller said it was a "very cold week to come" with day temperatures close to freezing, and overnight frost making it feel "colder still" with "significant windchill".

In the south east of England, eastern England, the Midlands and the North East, there is the greatest prospect of "significant" falls of snow and disruption, he added. Some areas will get "shower after shower, with snow building up".

However, the severe conditions brought by Storm Darcy are not expected to be as widespread as 2018's Beast from the East, forecasters said.

Snow falling in Auchleven in Aberdeenshire on Monday morning

Snowy fields at a farm near Glenkindie, Aberdeenshire

Yellow warnings - meaning there could be travel disruption and a slight chance of power cuts or communities being cut off - include:

• snow along the entire central and eastern length of Britain until the end of Wednesday

• snow and ice in the south east of Northern Ireland from the late afternoons on Monday and Tuesday, until Wednesday

There were 28 flood warnings across England, as of 20:00 on Monday.

Public Health England has issued a cold weather alert for the whole nation through to Wednesday.

Dr Owen Landeg said it was "crucial" people looked out for those who may be vulnerable during the current cold snap, calling on the public to make sure those at-risk have enough food and drink to stay warm and well.