UK weather: Met Office issues new ice warning as temperatures fall close to freezing
The Met Office has warned of travel disruption on the roads and rail, as many around the country continue to recover from flooding after Storm Henk.
Monday 8 January 2024 13:33, UK
The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for ice across the South - with a mix of snow and sleet forecast for some parts.
It covers southern England and South Wales and is in force from 3pm on Monday until 3am on Tuesday.
The Met Office warned of ice patches on untreated roads and pavements, wintry showers and "temperatures near zero".
Weather latest: Snow arrives as South East in for 'biggest shock'
Some areas - such as the North Downs in Sussex - could see 1-3cm of snow, and pictures on Monday morning showed a dusting of snow in some parts of Kent.
An amber alert for cold weather has also been issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
It covers the North West of England, West Midlands, East Midlands and South West of England until noon on Friday.
The warning means "cold weather impacts are likely to be felt across the whole health service for an extended period of time".
See the latest weather forecast for your area
Dr Agostinho Sousa, from the UKHSA, said it was important to check on those "most vulnerable to the cold" over the next week.
Anyone with pre-existing medical conditions, or over 65, is advised to be especially cautious and "heat the rooms where you spend most of your time".
It comes as many people are still struggling to recover from Storm Henk, which last week caused widespread flooding and two deaths.
The Environment Agency said more than 1,800 properties had already flooded.
Some 148 flood warnings (meaning flooding is expected) and 146 flood alerts (flooding possible) were in place in England and Wales on Monday morning.
Debbie Carling, who lives in a cottage by the Thames in Chertsey, told Sky News she's increasingly worried about flooding.
She's lived in the town for 17 years and said three out of four instances of heavy flooding had happened in the last two years.
In 2014, the basement of her house completely flooded and she has since spent "a considerable amount of money" on an automated system to pump out water.
The system has been pumping non-stop for over a week, she said.
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"We're at the top level now and we need it to start to recede quite quickly," she added. "We've already put a lot of things into storage over the last few days."
On Sunday, Labour accused the government of being "asleep at the wheel" over flood warnings.
Party leader Sir Keir Starmer vowed to make flood defences "fit for purpose", writing on social media that "people's lives shouldn't be upended by extreme rain".
But Rishi Sunak defended the government's record on flood protection, saying 49,000 people had avoided potential ruin.
"We have over 1,000 Environment Agency personnel on the ground in local communities helping, over 200 pumps have been deployed," he said.
"We've invested £5.2bn in flood defences over the period in question, that's a record sum, far more than we've done (previously), in the future that's contributed to protecting over 300,000 homes."
It followed the announcement of a new government financial package for eligible areas of the UK that have faced exceptional localised flooding.