AN AMBER weather warning of wind and snow from the Met Office will be downgraded to yellow for Gwent.

The second highest warning issued by the Met Office, it covers Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen.

It came into effect at 6.05pm on Thursday evening and will end at 8am this morning.

The chief forecaster said: “Widespread snow will continue this evening, extending further northeast.

“Across the east of the warning area a further five to 10cm is likely in places.

“Elsewhere, around 10 to 20cm is likely to fall quite widely, with 30 to 50cm possible across parts of Dartmoor, Exmoor and upland parts of southeast Wales.

“Snowfall will be accompanied by strong to gale easterly winds, perhaps severe gales in exposed areas, leading to drifting of lying snow especially in upland areas.

“Severe cold and wind chill will compound the dangerous conditions.

“Towards midnight, there is a chance of snow turning to freezing rain in places, more likely over southwest England, with widespread icy stretches making driving conditions particularly dangerous.”

It will give way to yellow weather warnings – one for Friday and one for Saturday.

The first weather warning, which came into effect at 0.05am this morning and ends at 11.55pm tonight, is for snow and ice.

The chief forecaster said: “Whilst snow showers over Northern Ireland are likely to ease, further more persistent snow could move north into southern Britain later, giving a few centimetres in places.

“However, there remains significant uncertainty regarding this aspect. This warning has been updated to remove the west of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. A reference to blowing around of existing snow cover has been added.”

Saturday’s warning is for ice and starts at 0.05am and ends at 9am.

The chief forecaster said: “A combination of low temperatures and surfaces likely to be wet, from earlier rain and snow or a partial thaw of lying snow, will lead to icy stretches forming on untreated surfaces.

“A further centimetre or two of snow could occur in places away from the south coast. This warning has been updated to include the possibility of some further sleet or snow in places.”