Hazardous conditions as Storm Freya lashes Britain with gales and snow
Storm Freya has battered Britain with gales, heavy rain and snow that caused widespread travel disruption.
A yellow warning for wind was put in place until 6am on Monday as gusts of up to nearly 80mph whipped a large swathe of the country, with downed trees and debris causing power cuts and affecting travel.
The Met Office also issued a yellow warning for snow until 2am as heavy falls hit high routes across the Pennines, stranding motorists on the A595 in Cumbria.
At Spadeadam, near the Northumbria border, 6cm (2.4in) of snow was recorded on Sunday night, while Cumbria Police said hazardous conditions were being reported across the county and urged motorists not to travel unless necessary.
One motorist said there was "chaos" on the A595, tweeting: "Shocked at how bad it is! Major problems in Cumbria due to the snow! Very severe."
High winds, which reached 76mph at Mumbles Head on Swansea Bay, caused disruption on the rail network across Wales and the Midlands.
Meanwhile, police forces across England and Wales reported gales had brought down trees and blown branches into roads, blocking some routes for motorists.
#StormFreya brought #gales for many, with 76 mph recorded at Mumbles Head, Swansea 🌬️ There were some sunny spells, although 6 cm of #snow fell at Spadeadam by late evening 🌨️ pic.twitter.com/Q9lc4IilEW
— Met Office (@metoffice) March 4, 2019
The stormy conditions were expected to have eased by rush hour on Monday morning, although some rain and gusty winds and some snow will continue.
Met Office forecaster Emma Smith said: "By six o'clock on Monday the centre of Storm Freya will be out over the North Sea.
"There will still be outbreaks of rain, sleet and snow just clipping the coast by Newcastle and southern Scotland.
"Thereafter into Monday there will be plenty of sunshine around, then we will get a band of showery rain moving in from the south-west.
"That's going to be moving across Devon and Cornwall first and moving into Wales and Northern Ireland through the morning.
"By the afternoon it will be into the Midlands and towards London with some hail and thunder. Northern and eastern areas will stay sunniest and it will be quite blustery as well, with some gale-force gusts in the west."
