More than 2,500 homes were left without power and hundreds of cars were stranded after heavy snowfall turned towns into “ski resorts”.
Cumbria police urged people not to travel to the county yesterday after it declared a major incident because of the weather. The Met Office said that Saturday night had been the coldest since last winter, with minus 12.5C recorded in Altnaharra in the Scottish Highlands.
The forecaster Tom Morgan said there was “in excess of 20cm, probably in excess of 30cm, of snow across the Windermere and Coniston area”.
Harrison Ward, from Ambleside, said drivers had abandoned their vehicles on Saturday. He said yesterday: “It feels like you’re walking through the Alps or some ski resort … We’ve seen gridlock through the town with lots of wheel spinning going on.”
The emergency services said that the snow on Saturday night had been heavier than forecast, which hampered operations.
Morgan said: “It was quite an unusual situation that led to it because it became slow-moving and gave the same areas of south Cumbria hour after hour of heavy snow.”
He said that by Sunday the weather had “turned a bit milder” in the south of Britain, but added that it was still cold further north and warned of wintry showers into today.
A yellow warning for ice covers swathes of the north of England and Wales until midday. A yellow warning of snow and ice covers much of eastern Scotland.
Higher parts of Wales and the Peak District are also under yellow warnings for snow until midday today. A yellow warning for rain covers parts of the southwest of England and Wales until 6pm. In its warning for Wales and the Peak District, the Met Office said there could be 2cm to 5cm of snow “on some roads above around 150m, and perhaps 10cm to 15cm on roads above around 350m”.
![Windermere was one of the hardest hit areas overnight with “much more significant [snow] than forecast”](https://www.thetimes.com/imageserver/image/%2Fmethode%2Ftimes%2Fprod%2Fweb%2Fbin%2F617f61e4-d3ad-45f3-acac-0a2e23108ffa.jpg?crop=5000%2C3337%2C0%2C0&format=webp)
Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service said it was using 4×4 vehicles to help vulnerable people. Dozens of smaller roads in the county were closed or impassable.
At least 23 areas in the county were without power yesterday morning, according to Electricity North West. Later yesterday the electricity network operator said “even specialist 4×4 vehicles cannot reach all sites”.
Dale Hipkiss, the National Highways network manager, said: “Keeping items like a torch and warm clothes in your vehicle can be vital.”
Forecasters said that conditions would turn milder later this week.
