Severe winter weather has gripped the United Kingdom for a second consecutive day, leading to widespread disruption across education, travel, and public services. plummeting temperatures, heavy snowfall, and icy conditions have prompted the Met Office to issue multiple warnings, impacting regions from northern Scotland down to southern England and Wales. The UK experienced its coldest night of the year so far, with temperatures dropping to -12.5C in Marham, Norfolk, and -8C in major cities like London, Birmingham, Bournemouth, and Southampton.

Hundreds of schools across the UK remained closed on Tuesday, affecting thousands of pupils. In northern Scotland, schools in Shetland, Orkney, and Aberdeenshire were shut, extending pupils' festive break. Similarly, two more schools in Greater Manchester, Corpus Christi RC Primary and Oasis Academy in Oldham, closed due to heating issues, including a burst pipe at Hollingworth Academy in Rochdale. Extensive closures were reported across Carmarthenshire (104), Staffordshire (82), Gwynedd (74), Moray (72), North Yorkshire (45), Ceredigion (41), Wrexham (14), Lancashire, Cheshire, and Northern Ireland (183), with some attributing closures to both severe weather and heating malfunctions.

The Met Office has issued an amber warning for snow for large parts of north-east and northern Scotland, including Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Highland, Angus, and Perth and Kinross, predicting 5-10cm of snow widely and up to 15cm in higher elevations. This amber warning, in effect until Tuesday evening, signifies a higher risk of severe travel disruption, power cuts, and potential danger to life and property. Yellow warnings for snow and ice cover a broader swathe of the country, from Perth northwards, central Scotland south beyond the English border, North West England (until 11 am Tuesday, with icy patches into Wednesday morning), southwest England, northern England, eastern England, and Wales, along with a yellow ice warning in Northern Ireland. Forecasters predict 2-5cm of snow widely in yellow alert areas, with potential for 10-15cm in some spots, while southern areas of the central belt may see 1-2cm of light snow. Rainfall turning to snow is expected in Scotland and northern England, bringing 1-5cm to the latter and 10-15cm to central and eastern Scotland.

Travel networks have been severely impacted. Road conditions were hazardous, leading to closures like the A171 near Birk Brow in North Yorkshire and snow gates on the A939 in Banffshire. A double-decker bus crashed on an icy surface in Liverpool. Air travel saw numerous cancellations, including Loganair flights from Aberdeen and Inverness, and services to/from Sumburgh and Kirkwall airports. Five flights from Aberdeen Airport and flights to/from Amsterdam from Inverness Airport were cancelled. Rail services faced significant disruption, with some lines blocked by snowdrifts. National Rail warned of disruptions in northern Scotland, while ScotRail reported issues on multiple routes. Eurostar cancelled services from London to Rotterdam and Amsterdam, and LNER advised passengers to defer travel on routes like London King's Cross to Leeds/Edinburgh due to broken rails and significant snowfall. Points failures and overhead electric wire damage caused major delays on Great Northern, Merseyrail, Elizabeth Line, Great Western Railway, Heathrow Express, and London Underground services, including partial suspensions on the Northern and Piccadilly lines and delays on Metropolitan, Central, Circle, and District lines. Glasgow's subway network was also suspended due to ice on the third rail. CalMac Ferries reported disruptions on Scotland's west coast.

Health and safety concerns are paramount amidst the cold snap. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issued amber cold health alerts for England, initially until Friday and later extended to Sunday, warning of potential increases in deaths and pressure on health and social care services. The Alzheimer's Society urged the public to check on vulnerable family and neighbours with dementia, providing practical advice for staying warm and safe. A critical incident in Epping Forest, Essex, saw two men fall through ice while attempting to rescue a dog, prompting fire services to issue strict warnings against going onto frozen water and instead advising to call 999. First Minister John Swinney acknowledged the