Much of northern England is set to face localised blizzard conditions, winds of up to 80mph, and a yellow ice warning this week.
The latter end of 2021 certainly brought with it all manner of unpredictable weather conditions, including both Storm Arwen and Storm Barra, all before the country experienced what was described as “an exceptionally mild spell” and recorded the warmest ever New Year’s Day since records began.
But now, temperatures are set to plummet this week – and snow could be on its way.
The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for snow and ice for much of the North, including parts of Greater Manchester, from midnight on Friday (7 January) to 10am, and it appears to covers parts of Bolton, Bury, Rochdale, Oldham, and Wigan.
The warning also covers parts of Lancashire, West Yorkshire, Cumbria, Scotland, and Ireland too – with forecasters saying there could be “frequent sleet and snow showers” leading to some potential disruption to travel and difficult driving conditions, as per the definition of a Met Office yellow weather warning.
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If Friday’s forecast turns out to be true, the Met Office says that some roads and railways are likely to be affected, with longer journey times by road, bus, and train services, and there will also probably be some icy patches on untreated roads, pavements, and cycle paths
Some brief power outages are possible too, with a risk of isolated lightning strikes.
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The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for snow and ice for much of the North / Credit: Pxhere
Warnings for these harsh conditions and temperatures dropping to close to and below sub-zero before this week is out comes after a yellow weather warning for ice was issued for Greater Manchester this morning (4 January) – a stark difference following the uncharacteristic warm spell.
Today is proving to be “noticeably colder across the whole of the country”, the Met Office said, with temperatures peaking at 8°C.
Make sure you are #WeatherReady in the colder months. Cold weather can be a risk to your health especially if you are over 65 or have a long-term health condition. Your home should be heated to more than 18°C
Brits are also being urged to check on their elderly neighbours as it begins to get colder, with Agostinho Sousa – a consultant in public health medicine at UKHSA – having warned that cold weather can have a “serious impact on health, particularly for older people and those with heart and lung problems”.
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He continued: “It’s important to check on those who are more vulnerable to cold weather, including older neighbours or relatives – especially those living alone or those who have a serious illness.
“Remind them to heat their home to at least 18°C and to keep up to date with the forecast.”
Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons
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Manchester City announced signing of top Premier League defender Marc Guehi
Danny Jones
It looks like they’ve finally got a done deal: Manchester City have finally announced the transfer of highly sought-after defender Marc Guehi.
Man City reached an agreement with Crystal Palace to sign the increasingly established Three Lions star after emerging as a suitor in recent weeks.
Pep Guardiola’s pursuit of the impressive Premier League centre-back ramped up earlier this month, as it became apparent that they were hoping to hijack Liverpool’s prospective move for Guehi.
The Ivory Coast-born England international looked all set to arrive at Anfield back in the summer, but the deal never materialised, and now rivals City have sealed his signature instead.
Finally confirmed and fully announced on Monday, 19 January, Palace and Man City are said to have reached an agreement in principle for a base fee of approximately £20 million.
However, rumoured add-ons are thought take that total closer to £30m; either way, it’s fair to say that it’s an absolute bargain for a player of his quality.
On the other hand, the acquisition will also see Man City’s total spending reach roughly half a billion pounds over the past year alone. Staggering sums for any sporting outfit.
Not that his former London team will mind one bit, of course, as it became increasingly clear that Guehi would be leaving eventually; manager Oliver Glasner – who also seems set to depart at the end of his contract – even addressed the sale ahead of completion in a recent press conference.
Guehi will wear the number 15 shirt for Man City and has penned a deal until 2031.
With Man City currently facing multiple absences, particularly in their backline with both Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias out injured, Guehi’s arrival is no doubt a welcome one.
Although many debated whether or not Pep needed to sign another centre-half, especially with two promising youth players returning from loan, supporters will nevertheless be glad to have snatched him from the clutches of Liverpool.
Over in the women’s team, they’ve also brought in a new member of the squad who could help spur on their title charge.
Can you see any more deals being down befor the end of the window?
New survey reveals half of Mancs have already given up their new year’s resolutions
Emily Sergeant
We’re into our third week of 2026 now, and according to a new survey, half of Mancs have already ditched their new year’s resolutions.
New year’s resolutions are always made with the best intentions, and it’s not like we intentionally set ourselves up to fail with them, but more often than not, that tends to be the case – and now a new survey of 1,000 Brits carried out over the past few weeks has found that 35% of us have already admitted to giving them up.
That percentage rises to a whopping 50% when narrowed down to the people of Greater Manchester.
Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, and Glasgow are the other four major cities joining Manchester in the top five list of people in each area that have stopped their 2026 challenge early.
Half of Mancs have apparently already given up their new year’s resolutions / Credit: PICRYL | Pexels
On the other end of the spectrum, it’s the cities of Southampton, Newcastle, and Edinburgh that are staying strong, with just 25%, 26% and 26% giving their new year’s resolutions up respectively, and some of the other northern cities on the list including Liverpool and Leeds.
According to new research from greetings card marketplace, Thortful, more than half of Brits (53%) expect to give up within the first three months of the year – with the hustle of busy schedules, work commitments, families, and social activities being given as reasons why.
When it comes to the reasons people provided for why they’ve given their resolutions up this year, lack of discipline tops the list at 43%, followed by just being too busy to consider them at 21%, and different mental or physical barriers in third place, as well as a change of personal circumstances and a lack of money also cited.
The majority of people cited a lack of discipline as being the reason they gave up / Credit: Andrea Piacquadio (via Pexels)
Looking forward to next year, it seems many of us want to reframe how we set our new year’s resolutions in the future.
According to the research, 32% of respondents want to ‘improve their existing qualities rather than set an unrealistic challenge’ next time around, and 16% ‘feel like there’s social pressure to change in the new year’, when in reality, they ‘don’t have to’.
Emily Sergeant -
4th January 2022 
