Greater Manchester set for more snow and ice as temperatures plummet

Greater Manchester is set for more snow and ice tonight, as the Met Office has issued another weather warning for the region.

Snow this morning has already caused some traffic issues on the M62, Rochdale, the High Peak and Oldham.

The current yellow weather alert means we could be hit by more tonight, with the snow and ice warning covering all of Greater Manchester, as well as Cheshire, Cumbria, Lancashire and Merseyside.

The alert is in place from 8pm tonight, Tuesday 25th February, until tomorrow morning at 10am.

EthelRedThePetrolHead / Flickr

While the showers will come down as a mixture of rain, hail and snow, the snow is most likely to fall in the more hilly areas, with some parts of the region potentially seeing 1-3cm of snow.

According to forecasters, though, we could see 4-8cm of snow in higher areas.

A Met Office statement reads: “Wintry showers are expected to continue through Tuesday night and Wednesday morning leaving surfaces wet and leading to icy stretches developing on untreated surfaces.

“These showers will fall as a mixture of rain, hail and snow at times, the snow mostly over higher ground. Some places are likely to see 1-3 cm of snow, mainly above 200 m, with 4-8 cm possible over the higher ground in northwest England, Wales and west Scotland.”

Dai O’Nysius / Wikimedia

In Bury, rain and snow showers are forecast from 5pm until 8pm, when it will turn into just snow for the rest of the evening, with temperatures as low as -3C.

Rochdale is set for rain and snow from 4pm until 6pm, at which point it’ll turn into snow showers for the rest of the evening, with lows of -2C.

Oldham has a similar forecast, with snow over the entire evening from 6pm, and lows of -3C, while Bolton will experience rain and snow from 4pm until 7pm, then snow the rest of the evening and temperatures of -3C.

Manchester, Salford, Trafford and Wigan are forecast sleet rather than proper snow showers, with rain and snow predicted throughout the evening, alongside temperatures of -1C.

Tameside will see snow from 6pm, while Stockport will see sleet until 8pm, when it turns into snow showers – both accompanied by lows of -3C.

Make sure you don’t head out without your big coat tonight…