Met Office predicts snow and ice across Bolton

The whole of the North West is now expected to be affected, with forecasters originally predicting the conditions to only cover the Ribble Valley and Burnley.

The warning covers the entire of the North West (Image: Met Office)

It will come into force at 7pm tomorrow, Monday, and will bring disruption through until 10am on Tuesday.

There is a small chance that power cuts and cuts to other services such as mobile phone coverage.

Additionally, untreated pavements and cycle paths may become impassable, with a slight chance that some rural areas will become cut off.

Bus and train services may be delayed or cancelled, with some road closures and longer journey times, with a small chance of injuries from falls on icy surfaces a real possibility.

Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Rebekah Hicks said: “A notable early winter cold spell will arrive across the north from Sunday and will likely reach all parts of the UK by midweek.  

“Temperatures will drop as a northerly airflow develops, bringing in colder Arctic air. This introduces the possibility of snow, initially over high ground in the north from Sunday, with gusty winds also a potential hazard.”

Uncertainty surrounding what the actual impacts are is unclear, with the forecaster predicting the most likely scenario being that snow will accumulate on hills between 5 and 10cm above 200m.

As the rain, sleet and snow clear on Tuesday morning, ice may form on untreated surfaces.

Ms Hicks added: “There is a lot of uncertainty in what might happen after Sunday, but there are a number of scenarios which could bring some more widespread rain, along with some hill snow and stronger winds.

"It is possible that there may be some more widespread snowfall across lower ground, but the chance of this for any given region is low at this stage.

"What we do know is that the whole of the UK is likely to experience a spell of several days of cold, potentially disruptive weather next week.”

Temperatures in Bolton could dip as low as -2°C next week.

The UK Health and Security Agency has issued a cold health alert, which impacts the North West.

The yellow alert has been issued from 9pm tonight, Sunday, November 17 to 9am on Thursday, November 21.

According to the alert, the weather is likely to have minor impacts on health and social care services, including increased use of healthcare services by vulnerable people and greater risk to life of vulnerable people.