Weather: Snow And Rain Warning For Drivers

Severe weather warnings have been issued across much of the country as flooding blights communities and heavy snowfall is expected.

Shops and homes were flooded in Cornwall overnight, as the AA warns motorists even short journeys "can quickly turn bad".

There are 96 flood warnings and two amber warnings for snow in place across the country, with southwest England the worst affected.

Seventeen flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, are in place, affecting parts of Devon and Dorset.

And 79 flood alerts, where flooding is possible, are in place across the South East and Midlands, but the South West is being the hardest hit.

There has already been major flooding in Cornwall.

Amber alerts have been issued for snow and rain

And the severe cold weather continues with the two amber warnings for snow affecting Northern Ireland and Wales, which parts of northwest England could expect to see up to 15cm of snowfall over the day.

Scotland also looks likely to see heavy snowfall today.

Police said they received a "significant" surge in call-outs on Thursday evening in the South West.

Sgt Dave Opara, based in Plymouth, said: "There has been a considerable amount of rainfall across the force area."

Cornwall opened its dedicated control centre to deal with the volume of calls about flooding. Fire crews had already been called out to 50 incidents before 10pm on Thursday.

Newlyn, in the southwest of the county, was reported to be the worst affected area.

Newlyn resident Adam Gibbard said the river through the town had burst its banks and swept into the main street.

"This is the second it has happened in three months and a lot of these properties are businesses who were just getting back on their feet," he told Sky News.

"It has been very heavy rain all day and the deepest areas are a couple of feet deep.

"There are a lot of people out with sandbags, there are a lot of fire crews, people pitching in and trying to stem it but I don't think they have much of a chance."

Environment Agency spokesperson Pete Fox said: "Heavy rain in southwest England and south Wales on Thursday and into Friday means there is a risk of localised surface water and river flooding in the south west, the southern counties and parts of south Wales.

The worst flooding was reported to be around Newlyn in Cornwall

"The public can sign up for flood warnings and check the latest information on the Environment Agency's website, or follow us on Twitter at @EnvAgency."

Sky News weather producer Joanna Robinson said: "March can be a month of extremes and that's certainly what we're seeing this year.

"The cold theme is set to continue, with disruptive snow across parts of the UK.

"Over the next 24 hours, central parts of the UK will be most at risk of significant snow, particularly Northern Ireland, southwest Scotland, northwest England, northeast Wales and the north Midlands.

"There will be drifting in the raw wind and blizzard conditions. Disruption is likely to transport and perhaps even power supplies."

Darron Burness, head of the AA's Special Operations Response Team, said: "It's going to be a real witch's brew of driving wind, rain and snow, which will inevitably cause disruption on the roads.

"Drivers should be well prepared as even short journeys can quickly turn bad.

"Drifting snow could repeat the scenes we saw in southern England last week when hundreds of drivers got stuck overnight - it only takes one or two vehicles struggling for grip for the situation to quickly escalate.

"Keep your speed down as visibility could be seriously reduced and there's a risk of localised flooding - just stay out of flood water.

"Also with temperatures set to remain low, any snow that settles will likely persist for several days, so be wary of icy patches.

"Wherever you're going, take plenty of warm layers, check the travel reports before heading out and stick to the main roads where possible."

The Local Government Association said council gritting and ploughing teams would be out in force to try to ensure main roads remained passable.

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