WeatherFanatics: PHOTOS: Snow across the North of England closes over 150 schools and causes accidents on M62

Friday, March 4, 2016

PHOTOS: Snow across the North of England closes over 150 schools and causes accidents on M62

By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist

March 4,2016; 10:57AM,EST

On the heels of Storm Jake, another depression brought disruptive late-week snow to the north of England.
Snow developed on the north side of the depression around the Pennines on Thursday night and continued until Friday. Snow was not just confined to the hills but also settled in Manchester, Leeds and Bradford.

A snowy scene in West Yorkshire. (Twitter Photo/@yorkshireguy)
Weather observations received by the Met Office indicate that 7.6 cm (3 inches) of snow had settled between Rochdale and Littleborough. Other snow totals include 8 cm (3.15 inches) in Bingley, West Yorkshire, and 2 cm (0.80 of an inch) in Tadcaster.
Near the Manchester suburb of Pendlebury, the snow settled 2.5 cm (an inch). The weather observer reported "Difficult travelling conditions, resulting in slow moving traffic, minor delays to commuting and public transport."
Travel disruptions were not just confined to Manchester. Flights were suspended at Leeds Bradford Airport on Friday morning, according to BBC News.
The airport has since reopened as temperatures climbed above freezing and the snow changed to rain during the midday hours of Friday.
Vehicle accidents resulted amid treacherous travel conditions, including on the M62 motorway. A multi-vehicle accident on Friday caused very slow traffic and closed one lane on M62 westbound between J23 (Huddersfield) and J22 (Rishworth Moor), BBC reported.
More than 100 schools were closed across East Lancashire and Oldham. Over 80 schools were shut down in West Yorkshire.
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Snow will persist and keep travel slippery in the hills of northern England and northern Wales into Friday evening. An additional coating to 2 cm (nearly an inch) and slick motorways in the lower elevations will come during any heavier precipitation. Otherwise, a chilly rain or wet snow will fall.
The rain and snow will die down to showers overnight on Friday. Scattered showers will continue this weekend, occurring most numerous on Saturday. Enough cold air will be present for the showers to be wintry, especially in the hills. A brisk wind will make the air feel colder.
"No significant settling of snow is expected this weekend," AccuWeather Meteorologist Eric Leister said, "however, the higher terrain may receive an occasional fresh coating of snow."

Snow covers West Yorkshire. (Twitter Photo/@@yorkshireguy)

A blanket of snow in Macclesfield. (Twitter Photo/@BlogYourWorld)

Motorists navigate snow in Calverly, Leeds. Twitter user @ZulfiHussain reported that the road was "blocked and very difficult to pass." (Twitter Photo/@ZulfiHussain)