Supply chain woes as winter weather continues

Wintery showers are expected to continue until Saturday (January 14) evening, mainly in Scotland and England’s north, east and western fringes, the Met Office confirmed. Suppliers should keep up-to-date with weather warnings for information on road closures, it added.

Met Office chief meteorologist Paul Gundersen said: “There is a chance of snow settling, bringing disruption to transport during the evening rush hour and possibly interruptions to power supplies. This is more likely across East Anglia and south east England.​

‘Disruption to transport’​

“Forecasting snow is always challenging and there’s often a fine line between whether it will rain or snow in a particular location depending on slight changes in air temperature. Keep an eye on the forecast and warnings for your area for the latest information.”​

All road users – including hauliers – should prepare for longer journey times ahead of the icy conditions, according to the RAC.

“Commuters and those drivers planning longer journeys this week must heed the weather warnings and be prepared for tricky driving conditions, and significantly extended journey times,”​ RAC spokesman Rod Dennis said.

‘Significantly extended journey times’​

“With the possibility of problems affecting public transport networks, this will likely force more people into their cars so motorists should also not rule out more traffic on major routes.”​

About 18cm of snow fell in parts of Scotland yesterday. A number of main roads were closed, including the A93, the M74 and the A9.

Overnight, some parts of Scotland received up to 8cm of snow in a single hour (see tweet below).

Heavy #snow currently across #Scotland. Tulloch Bridge in Inverness-shire has received 8cm in the past hour, taking their total to 17cm ❄️ pic.twitter.com/01UAwPs6LF

— Met Office (@metoffice) January 13, 2017

Meanwhile, 80 flights from Heathrow were cancelled yesterday as the airport prepared for snow in the evening. Gatwick cancelled four flights yesterday.