Storm Bert will arrive in the UK today (Image: Getty)
The Met Office has issued as Storm Bert arrives in Britain, prompting a slew of yellow and amber weather alerts.
, the second storm of the year, is expected to bring heavy snowfall and rain as well as fast winds across the country this weekend.
There are weather warnings in place on Saturday covering southwest England, Wales, Northern Ireland, north England, and all of Scotland. They are mostly yellow for rain, and wind.
Rarer and more severe amber warnings for snow are also in place in central and southern Scotland.
The UK Health Security Agency has also issued amber and yellow Cold Health Alerts covering the whole of England. The amber are from the midlands and East Anglia northwards, south of this are yellow warnings.
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Snow will come ‘thick and fast’ this morning, Met Office warns
Snow will strike “thick and fast” across northern England and Scotland on Saturday morning, a forecaster has warned.
meteorologist Aidan McGivern said the arrival of Storm Bert is coming after a “relatively quiet” night on Friday, which saw the mercury drop to around minus 4C across parts of Scotland, while it dropped to minus 1C in eastern England.
Mr McGivern said: “We’ll see two to four hours of 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.
“You can expect blizzards over hills across northern England and Scotland, atrocious conditions for travelling and going over the hills and also the risk of power interruptions because of snow build up on power lines.
“So all in all, a multiple hazard event as we go into Saturday morning.”
After that temperatures will quickly rise as a result of milder air from the Atlantic brought with the storm.
This is expected to bring about “rapid thaw” by Saturday afternoon.
Stay up to date with warnings as Storm Bert arrives, Met Office warns
Amber snow warnings related to Storm Bert are now in place, the has warned.
Residents are advised to, “Take care throughout the day, and make sure to keep up to date” on guidance via its .
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Where are all the active weather warnings?
Several yellow weather warnings are in place today as Storm Bert dumps heavy rain and snow across the UK.
These are the current warnings to look out for on Saturday.
South coast – From 3pm to 9pm, a yellow warning is in place for wind over the south coast of England.
The government agency warns there is a slight chance of power cuts and buildings being damaged.
Southwest – A yellow warning for rain has been in place since 6am in the southwest of England.
The alert, which is in place until 11.45 covers an area from Cornwall up to Oxford and on to Portsmouth.
Wales – A yellow warning for rain is in place for the whole of Wales from 6am Saturday to 6am Sunday.
forecasters warn heavy rain is likely to bring some travel disruption, particularly in the south of the country.
Northern Ireland – A yellow warning for rain and snow has been in place since midnight and will be in place until 11am on Saturday. Journey times are likely to be affected, including on roads and rails.
Midlands, north and Scotland – A yellow warning for rain and snow has been in place since 4am reaching from Stoke and Nottingham up to the whole of Scotland.
However, major cities including Manchester, Liverpool and Hull aren’t currently expected to be affected.
The alert remains in place until 9pm.
Southern Scotland – A rarer amber weather warning for snow covering the Pennines, Yorkshire Dales and some southern parts of Scotland has been in effect since 7am and will reamin in place until midday.
Central Scotland – An amber warning for snow, as well as ice, is in place from 7am until 5pm on Saturday, for Aberfeldy and surrounding areas, northwest of Perth and Dundee.
East and west coasts – The entire eastern coasts of Scotland and northern England, down as far as Grimsby are under a yellow warning for wind from 5am until 7pm on Saturday.
The warning also covers much of the western coastline from Wales up to northern Scotland.
However, Manchester and Liverpool aren’t currently included within it.
You can find the latest warnings and guidance .