The first proper snow of the winter has fallen overnight in Derbyshire.
Overnight showers turned to snow as the temperatures started to tumble yesterday evening and the Met Office has issued a yellow alert for the East Midlands for snow and heavy rain.
The people of Buxton, the highest market town in England, woke up to a dusting of snow.
The proper coverings have developed over the surrounding higher moorlands, where air temperatures close to freezing allowed the snow to be less sleety, and a few inches have settled.
Among the patches that currently have lying snow is the A537 Cat and Fiddle road, and a covering could be seen on the webcam hosted at the Cat and Fiddle Pub, close to the Derbyshire and Cheshire border, this morning.
Buxton-based weather watcher Michael Hilton said on his website buxtonweather.co.uk this morning: “Overnight snow showers into Friday morning have ramained fairly wet, and we very little snow on the ground on Friday morning at Buxton level – a little on the grass – not much on the roads.
“Higher level routes in the area, including the A537 Cat and Fiddle, The A53 Leek Road, the A54 Congleton Road, The A515 Ashbourne Road, The A5004 Long Hill Road and The A6 North and South from Buxton, all appear to be running reasonably well.”
He reported that the Cat and Fiddle road had been described as “passable with care” by 6am.
A further band of precipitation is due around 10am and the Met Office says this could fall as heavy snow in high-up areas such as Buxton.
This morning the forecaster put out a yellow alert for the East Midlands for heavy rain and snow, warning that the snow could fall heavily in places and leading to difficult driving conditions.
However, lower levels such as Derby and Ashbourne are likely to see it fall as sleet, or even just rain.
The big band of showers, moving in from the East, is likely to affect Derbyshire well into the afternoon – so if it does fall as snow, it could leave quite a covering and lead to disruption on some roads.
-- to www.derbytelegraph.co.uk
