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Greater Manchester bracing for snow as Met Office issues ‘yellow warning’ for most of UK

Winter is coming.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 2nd January 2025

Greater Manchester is bracing for three days of snow as the Met Office has issued a ‘yellow warning’ for most of the UK.

While much of the region has woken up to a crisp winter’s morning under a yellow warning for ice in place today, from Saturday onwards, we have another yellow warning to contend with all together, as weather forecasters are predicting that “heavy snow may cause some disruption over the weekend”.

The three-day yellow warning for snow runs from 12pm on Saturday (4 January) onto around 9am on Monday morning (6 January).

According to the Met Office, Greater Manchester residents are being told, like much of the UK, to prepare for “a small chance” that power cuts could occur, and that other services – such as mobile phone coverage – may be affected, while there is also a “slight chance” that some rural communities could become “cut off”.

As you would expect, “heavy snow” also means that there’s a chance of travel delays on roads, with some stranded vehicles and passengers because of this.

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We should also be expecting delayed or cancelled rail and air travel too.

Greater Manchester braces for snow as the Met Office issues a yellow weather warning / Credit: Geograph | Pexels

“We’ve currently issued a Yellow warning for snow covering a large part of England to cater for possible disruption over the weekend,” explained Dan Holley, who is a Deputy Chief Forecaster for the Met Office.

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Speaking on the yellow weather warning issued, and what it means for the UK over the coming days, Mr Holley continued: “At this stage, there is a fair amount of uncertainty over exactly which areas will see disruptive snow, with parts of Wales, northern England, and the Midlands most likely to see some impacts.

“Here we could see 5cm or more in quite a few areas, and perhaps as much as 20-30cm over high ground, including Wales and the Pennines. Coupled with strengthening winds this could lead to drifting, making travelling conditions difficult over higher-level routes in particular.”

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Mr Holley also added that it’s likely this yellow warning will be “refined” over the coming days as “confidence in the forecast increases”, and advises that everyone “keeping up to date” with the latest warnings.

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You can keep up to date with the yellow warning covering Greater Manchester here.

Featured Image – Benjamin Elliott (via Unsplash)

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Neil Young U-turns on Glastonbury drop-out after being confirmed as festival headliner

Danny Jones Danny Jones Neil Young now headlining Glastonbury Festival 2025 after pulling out

Barely a beat or two after having seemingly dropped out of the festival, Neil Young has now U-turned on Glastonbury 2025 and now looks set to be headlining it.

The legendary musician called out the world-renowned music festival for being under “corporate” control at the whim of the BBC (its official media and broadcasting partner for nearly 30 years) and said he would no longer be playing his slot.

Young went so far as to call it a “corporate turn-off”, claiming the event is “not how I remember it” in a message on his website.

However, just a few days after posting the news, it now appears as though the Canadian singer-songwriter will still be playing Glastonbury – and not just as one of the multiple legends lined up for 2025 either, but as a headliner.

Neil Young is now seemingly headlining Glastonbury 2025. (Credit: Screenshot via Neil Young Archives)

As you can see in the update shared on Friday, 3 January, the 79-year-old now claims there was an “error” in the information he received regarding his performance at the festival.

Having now cleared up whatever confusion occurred, he and his band the Chrome Hearts will in fact be playing the festival as planned, reiterating his long-lasting love for the festival.

Quite a far cry from the sentiment he seemed to be getting across in his previous post, but make of that what you will.

Furthermore, chief organiser Emily Eavis – whose parents Michael and Jean Eavis set up the first ever Glastonbury music festival back in 1970 – not only hopped on social media to confirm that ‘Shakey’ will be performing but that he will be headline the main Pyramid Stage.

“Neil Young is an artist who’s very close to our hearts at Glastonbury”, she wrote, adding: “He does things his own way and that’s why we love him.”

So has he been given a slot upgrade of sorts or what? It still remains a little unclear.

At present, Rod Stewart is set to play the iconic and outright ‘Legends’ slot during Sunday teatime this June. We likely won’t hear much else about the rest of the lineup until sometime in spring.

This, of course, isn’t the first time Neil Young has done a 180 following a well-publicised decision in protest against a big media company.

The music veteran famously removed all of his discography from Spotify for two years before it eventually reappeared back in March 2024.

As for whatever happened between him and the festival or whether this was some gamesmanship from the influential music icon, at the end of the day, he’s heading to Worthy Farm after all.

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Featured Images — Per Ole Hagen/Rachel D/Ross Belot (via Flickr)

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Met Office issues double Amber weather warning for snow in Greater Manchester

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Met Office issues double Amber weather warning for snow in Greater Manchester

The Met Office has slapped TWO Amber weather warnings across Greater Manchester with snow and ice forecast to be on the way.

The weather service said predicted that snow and freezing rain over the weekend are likely to lead to disruption, including possible power cuts, transport delays and road closures.

There is currently an Amber weather warning for snow covering an area from Newcastle all the way down to Greater Manchester.

And there’s a separate Amber warning for snow and ice which covers everywhere from Cardiff up to Greater Manchester.

It means that our city is currently under three separate weather warnings across the UK, according to the Met Office.

The warnings for snow and ice are in place from 6pm on Saturday until midday on Sunday, while the warning for just snow begins on Saturday at 9pm and doesn’t end until Sunday at midnight.

According to the Greater Manchester weather forecast, we are likely to see heavy snow showers overnight on Saturday and into Sunday morning.

Though in typical Manchester fashion, there’s then heavy rain forecast on Sunday afternoon which may melt any snow that does fall.

Check the latest forecast before you travel HERE.

The Met Office said: “Snow will become persistent and locally heavy as it pushes south to north across the warning area. As well as snow, a period of freezing rain is also likely bringing some hazardous travel conditions, before milder air follows across all areas by Sunday morning.

“Whilst there is some uncertainty in details, 3-7 cm of snow is likely for much of the warning area, with locally 15-30 cm for the higher ground of Wales and the southern Pennines. Freezing rain could lead to ice accretion in places, especially parts of Wales, before the milder air leads to a rapid thaw of snow and ice in the south of the warning area through Sunday.

“It is safer not to drive in these conditions, but if you need to make an essential journey, consider alternative forms of transport, to keep you and others safe. If you must drive, do this more safely by: using dipped headlights; accelerating gently, using low revs and changing to higher gears as quickly as possible; starting in second gear to help with wheel slip; maintaining a safe and steady speed, keeping distance from other vehicles; using a low gear to go downhill, avoiding braking unless necessary; steering into skids, not taking your hands of the wheel, and avoiding slamming on brakes.

“People cope better with power cuts when they have prepared for them in advance. It’s easy to do; consider gathering torches and batteries, a mobile phone power pack and other essential items.

“If isolated due to snow or ice, follow these simple steps to keep safe and well: keep the thermostat set to the same temperature both during the day and at night; turn off electrical heaters and put out your fire before going to bed; ensure pets are safe by keeping them warm and comfortable; prevent frozen pipes by opening kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing; stay indoors, wrap up warm and close internal doors to keep the heat in; and, if you need support call the British Red Cross Support Line on 0808 196 3651.

“Help to protect vulnerable people that you know including older people, those with underlying conditions and those who live alone; they may need support with food and medical supplies. If you are worried about your health or that of somebody you know, ring NHS 111.”

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Featured image: Unsplash, Dylan4photography

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