Rain and snow bring chaos warning (From Harwich and Manningtree Standard)

Rain and snow bring chaos warning

5:54am Friday 22nd March 2013 in National News © Press Association 2013

Britain faces a day of severe disruption as heavy snow, flooding and blizzard conditions blight the country.

Emergency services are already responding to a surge in weather-related call-outs, with Government agencies issuing a string of warnings urging the public to take care on the roads.

More flooding is expected in the South West as Thursday's heavy rain continues to pour throughout Friday and overnight.

Snow is expected to blanket everywhere north of the M4 corridor, with up to eight inches hitting the worst affected areas of north-west of England, North Wales and south-west Scotland.

Higher areas could even see up to 16 inches fall, while bitterly cold gale force winds will sweep across Britain creating blizzard-like conditions and plunging temperatures down to well below freezing.

Leeds Bradford International Airport has suspended all flights due to "adverse weather conditions", while problems on the roads have been reported across Yorkshire.

Dozens of schools have been closed across Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

James Wilby, a forecaster for Meteogroup, said: "It is really just nasty conditions across most of the UK. The snow will fall from the M4 northwards, quite lightly in the south but heavily in the north. Along with the heavy rain and flooding in the South West, there will no doubt be a lot of disruption for the UK.

"The heavy rain, snow and strong winds will continue into the weekend, with the heavy snow spreading south to East Anglia and Bristol tomorrow (Saturday). And I'm sorry to say that there is no sign of things getting any better next week, it's going to remain cold and bleak."