A SNOW and ice yellow weather warning has been issued by the Met Office for the Wellington and West Somerset areas from Friday evening (January 2).

The alert starts at 6 pm on Friday and runs through to midnight on Monday, January 5.

A spokesperson said: “Showers of rain, sleet and some snow, the latter mainly over higher ground, will affect parts of South West England during Friday evening and overnight into Saturday morning.

“Where showers occur, icy stretches will develop on untreated surfaces.

“While many areas will see little accumulating snow, there is potential for a centimetre or two of snow over Bodmin Moor, the west of Dartmoor, and Exmoor.”

Somerset Council gritting teams will be in action on roads across the area throughout the first weekend of the New Year.
Somerset Council gritting teams will be in action on roads across the area throughout the first weekend of the New Year. (Somerset Council)

On Sunday evening into into Monday it was expected that snow showers would push further inland across parts of the Westcountry.

Along windward coasts, rain and sleet was more likely, but inland showers would fall as snow.

Although not all locations in the warning area would see snow, about one to three centimetres was likely to fall in many places by Monday morning, with a potential for five to eight centimetres to build up in some places, particularly higher parts, and icy patches were likely to be widespread.

The spokesperson said: “Snow and ice has the potential to cause disruption to travel in places from Sunday evening through to Monday morning.

“Keep yourself and your family safe when it is icy.

“Plan to leave the house at least five minutes earlier than normal.

“Not needing to rush reduces your risk of accidents, slips, and falls.

“If you need to make a journey on foot, try to use pavements along main roads which are likely to be less slippery.

“Similarly, if cycling, try and stick to main roads, which are more likely to have been treated.

“Give yourself the best chance of avoiding delays by checking road conditions if driving, or bus and train timetables, amending your travel plans if necessary.”

Somerset Council gritting teams were expected to treat roads each evening during the alert period.

A spokesperson said: “It is going to be a busy few days for our gritting team with the temperatures dropping.

“Keep an eye out for our gritters on the road, they are already out in the Exmoor area today.

“Please take care and drive to the conditions.

“Remember, not all roads are gritted, and ice can still form on gritted roads.”

The alert comes on top of a national warning of potentially deadly cold temperatures lasting until Monday.