STORM BERT BRINGS UK AMBER WEATHER WARNINGS AND TRAVEL DISRUPTION

Storm Bert has begun to make its presence felt in the UK, bringing with it amber weather warnings and travel disruption. The storm's arrival has prompted weather warnings and 16 flood alerts to be issued across the UK .

In Yorkshire, the A628 remained closed overnight in both directions between the A616 Hollingworth and the A57 Flouch due to snow. The A66 Trans-Pennine route was also closed between the A6 and the M6 (J40) .

An amber alert for heavy snow and ice is in force between 7am and 5pm on Saturday in areas across Scotland, where 10-20cm of snow is likely on ground above 200 meters and potentially as much as 20-40cm on hills above 400 meters .

The weather warning covers parts of Angus, Perth and Kinross, Stirlingshire, Aberdeenshire, and some of the Highlands, Argyll and Bute, the Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire .

Perth and Kinross Council cancelled its annual Perth Christmas lights switch-on event over safety and travel concerns. Ferry operator CalMac – which serves the west coast of Scotland – has cancelled several sailings on Saturday with disruption expected on many other services.

P&O Ferries said it had cancelled the 4am sailing between Larne in Northern Ireland and Cairnryan in Scotland's south west on Saturday. A second amber warning will be in place between 7am and midday on Saturday covering parts of Yorkshire and the north east of England.

Yellow wind, rain, and snow warnings cover much of the rest of the UK on Saturday and into Sunday. Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern said the storm's arrival was following a "relatively quiet" night on Friday with temperatures at around minus 4C across parts of Scotland and minus 1C in eastern England .

The storm is expected to bring heavy snow across parts of northern England and Scotland during Saturday morning. This snow will accumulate thick and fast, with five to 10cm at lower levels and as much as 20 to 40cm over hills accompanied by strong winds .

Blizzards are expected over hills across northern England and Scotland, with atrocious conditions for travelling and going over the hills. There is also a risk of power interruptions because of snow build-up on power lines.

Temperatures will rise quickly as the storm brings with it milder air from the Atlantic, resulting in a "rapid thaw" by the afternoon. The melting snow and the heavy rain could lead to localised flooding in places, but the wettest spots would be Wales, in the South West, particularly over south-facing hills.

Strong winds are expected to strike the southern coast with gusts of more than 70mph in places. Wind warnings cover Scotland from 5am until 7pm on Saturday. Rain and snow warnings cover northern England from 4am to 9am and Northern Ireland from midnight on Friday until 11am on Saturday.

Rail companies issued announcements of service changes ahead of the weekend. In Scotland, there will be speed restrictions on the West Highland Line, Highland Mainline, Stranraer line, Glasgow South Western Line, Far North Line, and West Coast Mainline between Carstairs and the border.

ScotRail has withdrawn services from Inverness to Elgin, Aberdeen to Inverurie, and Glasgow Queen Street to Oban while trains from Glasgow Central to Carlisle will terminate at Dumfries. South Western Rail (SWR) asked passengers to only travel west of Basingstoke if their journeys are essential.

SWR announced services between Exeter and London Waterloo will start and finish at Basingstoke, that journey times will be longer between Salisbury and Exeter and between Bournemouth and Weymouth due to speed restrictions, and services across its network will start later than usual on Sunday and Monday because of safety inspections.

TransPennine Express "strongly" urged customers not to travel north of Carlisle on Saturday while Avanti West Coast advised passengers not to travel north of Preston – including Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith, Carlisle, Glasgow, and Edinburgh.

UK airports are not anticipating disruption. A spokesperson for Birmingham Airport said: "Whilst we are not anticipating disruption at this time... we will continue to keep a close eye on the situation, as Storm Bert moves in".

Manchester Airport said "we're expecting bad weather but aren't anticipating any disruption" while Newcastle Airport said it will be operating as normal overnight with teams "fully prepared to respond should conditions deteriorate".

The storm's impact is expected to be felt across the UK, with widespread disruption to travel and daily life. Residents are advised to stay indoors .

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