Snow is set to hit the UK over the next few days, with first sprinkling forecast to fall in Greater Manchester this evening.
Parts of North Yorkshire awoke this morning to find a thick blanket covering the region in its first heavy snow fall of the month, and the Met Office is forecasting that this will be making its way south to us here in Greater Manchester from as early as 4pm GMT.
Although flurries are likely to be isolated to the higher ground across the region, the majority of Greater Manchester is expected to feel considerably more chilly.
A minimum temperature of -1°C is forecast.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Met Office has declared that travel disruption is likely due to snow fall – mainly over the hills – and some roads and railways also stand to be affected, with longer journey times by road, bus and train services to be expected.
The weather warning is in place for the region until 9am GMT on Friday 4th December.
ADVERTISEMENT
Unsplash
BBC Weather is also predicting that the first flecks of snow will begin to fall in Oldham at around 4pm today, Rochdale at 7pm, and Manchester and Bolton at around 9pm tonight.
Elsewhere in the UK, there are warnings in place for ice and snow.
We are anticipated to see brighter weather and even some sunshine this weekend however, with temperatures going into next week expected to be lower than the average annual temperature for this time of year.
ADVERTISEMENT
Speaking on the wintery weather, Dan Suri – Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office – said: “It’ll certainly feel more wintry this week, with colder weather bringing a risk of frost, ice and wintry showers. The risk of snow accumulating is largely confined to the northern half of the UK – mainly over higher ground in Scotland, Wales and northern England.
“By Thursday morning, parts of north west Scotland could see 2cm of snow accumulations to low levels, with 2-5cm above 200m and up to 10cm gathering over the highest routes, leading to some travel disruption.”
⚠️ Yellow Warning issued ⚠️
Snow across parts of Northern England ❄️ Valid from now until 0900 Friday
Dan Harris – Deputy Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office – added that despite the cold and unsettled weather, which could include freezing fog, all was not “doom and gloom”. He said: “We’re keeping an eye on other areas where there is potential for disruptive snow, in particular central and south east England, and the hills of northern England,
“It’ll stay cold into the weekend with rain, showers and hill snow continuing across many areas, along with overnight frosts.
“We could also see some stubborn areas of freezing fog develop more widely, which at this time of year can persist all day, however, it’s not all doom and gloom, as there’s likely to be an increased chance of dry, bright, and perhaps even sunny weather on offer as the weekend progresses.”
You can find more information and forecasts via the Met Office website here.
Trending
Manchester City ‘strongly condemn’ racist abuse towards first-team players at Everton
Danny Jones
Manchester City Football Club have released a statement following yet more troubling racist abuse in the Premier League this May bank holiday.
Pep Guardiola’s side faced Everton in a fixture that ended in a 3-3 draw, which could prove pivotal in their pursuit of leaders Arsenal.
Sadly, however, one of the main stories to be taken from the game once again revolves around abuse and discrimination.
Match officials were quickly made aware of racial remarks directed at winger Antoine Semenyo on the day, and, unfortunately, defender Marc Guehi has also been the subject of hateful messaging online in the aftermath of the result.
Sharing a short, but simple and emphatic statement, the club wrote: “Manchester City strongly condemns the racist abuse directed towards Antoine Semenyo at yesterday’s match.
“We welcome the swift action taken by Everton and the police to identify the individual responsible.
“We are also incredibly disappointed to hear that Marc Guéhi was subject to a series of vile racist social media posts last night.”
They go on to add that they will “continue to offer our full support to both Antoine and Marc and never accept discrimination of any kind in our game.”
Everton themselves have since confirmed that local authorities swiftly identified at least one individual alleged to be responsible for the unacceptable behaviour.
As mentioned in their own post, the culprit is said to have been a 71-year-old man who was quickly flagged by fans and stewards inside the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
While this may be the first incident reported at the Toffees’ new home ground, regrettably, it’s just the latest in a long line of similar cases raised not just in English football but the top flight, specifically.
It goes without saying that we’re sorry to hear that stuff like this is still happening, and we send our strength to all those who continue to be affected by this despicable treatment.
As ever, ‘the beautiful game’ is for everyone and racism has no place in society, let alone football – kick it out once and for all. In other news surrounding Man City, there’s also been some controversy surrounding their upcoming FA Youth Cup final.
Manchester City turn down Old Trafford offer for FA Youth Cup final in favour of Joie Stadium
Danny Jones
Manchester City have turned down an offer from rivals Man United to hold the FA Youth Cup final at Old Trafford.
The Cityzens have instead chosen to host it themselves, only not at the Etihad Campus’ main ground, but rather the Joie Stadium.
Primarily used for City Women and the club’s EDS (elite development squad) and academy teams, the arena was formerly and simply known as The Academy Stadium, was renamed for sponsorship reasons back in 2023, and has seen several updates over the years.
Seating just a fraction of the amount possible across the city at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’, the decision has disappointed many, but has been seen as a shrewd bit of gamesmanship by some, as it could effectively see any home advantage handed over to their opponents.
With this set to be the first Manchester derby FA Youth Cup in four whole decades, many supporters were hoping to go along and back their young teams in big numbers.
Proving somewhat divisive among both fan bases, with each of their under-18s squads having enjoyed promising seasons, to say the least, literally tens of thousands look set to miss out on potential tickets as a result of the announcement.
For context, the last time Man United won the coveted academy tournament – which has often served as a key first piece of silverware won by entire generations of young talent – they welcomed a record youth crowd of 67,492 in May of 2022.
In comparison, even with a sold-out stadium, the Joie would only be able to match around 10% of that figure at most.
That being said, it goes without saying that United fans have been some of the most vocal on social media following the controversial confirmation.
best two youth teams in England meeting in the FA Youth Cup final and playing them in small stadium at MCFC is such a shame. 60,000 would watch this game if it was done right.
On the day, the winning team featured the likes of now fully graduated senior stars like Kobbie Mainoo, Alejandro Garnacho, and Joe Hugill, along with several still-rising prospects.
Some of the starlets that lots of fans would have been looking forward to seeing live in a large and historic sporting arena include Jim Thwaites, Noah Ajayi, Kai Rooney, JJ Gabriel on the red half, and the likes of Kylan Midwood, Divine Mukasa, Stephen Mfuni, Reigan Heskey and more in the blue.
Head coach Oliver Reiss (who took over in July 2024) led his City side to the U18 Premier League North title at the start of this month; meanwhile, Darren Fletcher has returned to oversee his young Red Devils after a spell as caretaker manager of the men’s first team.
While tickets were expected to be snapped up rather quickly already for the all-Manc FA Youth Cup final, it’s now set to be a race for followers of both teams to get their hands on their respective allocations.
Emily Sergeant -
3rd December 2020 
