are all in the running for top prizes. hello, i'm catherine byaruhanga. heavy snow and freezing rain is causing widespread disruption across the uk — with amber warnings in place in parts of northern england and the midlands. forecasters say up to forty centimetres of snow could fall in some places, and temperatures overnight fell as low as minus 11 celsius. after earlier closures due to snow and ice, the runways at liverpool, manchester and leeds bradford airports have now reopened — but there are warnings of more delays and disruption to come. danny savage reports from scotch corner. at the extremes of today's weather, conditions were atrocious. blizzards created drifts

here in north yorkshire and roads became impassable. the snowfall had been accurately forecast, and most people decided to stay put and try and make the most of it. pennine areas of northern england seem to be one of the worst affected areas so far today. and from my sort of unofficial measurements here in this part of the yorkshire dales, we've got about 22cm of snow so far, and it's still falling. it's of course created difficult travel conditions. a this bus struggled on the gradients in belmont in lancashire. the a1(m) came to a standstill at times through yorkshire and durham, and when things did clear, the outside lane remained snowbound and a a0 mile per hour speed limit was in place. airports saw diversions and cancellations earlier in the day. this was manchester this morning, but both here and leeds bradford

have now reopened. there were delays on trains, too. harrogate was typical of many places in northern england. a taste of winter had people changing their plans. we're going to stay put. we've been driving from scotland down to brighton and we stopped off last night, looked at the the weather forecast, but we're going to stay put, just enjoy the weather, and then just travel safely back down south tomorrow. i can't get to the airport. i've booked uber, but they've cancelled it. this was rotherham in south yorkshire this morning. there was snowfall in parts of wales too, where people in some areas were warned not to make non—essentialjourneys. but in the worst—affected areas, the drifts will need to be cleared tomorrow, along with checks on livestock which may be huddled beneath them. let's go live now to west yorkshire, and our correspondent nicky schiller who's there for us. what's the situation

where you are nicky? there's no during the day has turned into rain and that is coming down. i am still in the amber alert area and this is in force until midnight tonight. and it goes all the way up to northumberland, overto northumberland, over to cumbria. so northumberland, overto cumbria. so we are not out of the woods yet, there is a concern about tomorrow morning, because you can see the rain is falling. if it is icy conditions overnight, temperatures go below freezing, when people wake up in the morning, roads like this might well be very icy and could turn into a bit of a ice skating rink. being a sunday, that hasn't been that much traffic but tomorrow is monday and people will be making their way to work. so they are concerned about the conditions in the morning, the gritting lorries will be out trying to prevent that from happening overnight.

when it comes to public transport, there has been major disruption, national rail issued a do not travel alert for northern, also transpenine express have had cancellations. lner has said the passengers if they have a ticket it will be valid tomorrow. they have also been issues with scotrail. when it comes to the airports, the three main airports that were shut are now open but there is still a backlog of passengers trying to catch flights. a lot of them have been cancelled but not have been delayed. at leeds bradford they were talking about the sheer number of passengers in the departure lounge, meaning that they would have to work out how they could get everyone through security to catch their flights. looking ahead, it is tomorrow morning thatis ahead, it is tomorrow morning that is the most concerning. in other parts of the country, the

temperatures have raised, that means that snow in the west country has melted and now there is a concern about possible floods. there are flood warnings and flood alerts and the train lined down in the south—west between frome and taunton has had some flooding. they have had to run trains at lower speeds. we are still not out of the woods and there is concern for tomorrow as well when it is rush—hour. fix, concern for tomorrow as well when it is rush-hour. a brave man out _ when it is rush-hour. a brave man out in — when it is rush-hour. a brave man out in the _ when it is rush-hour. a brave man out in the cold _ when it is rush-hour. a brave man out in the cold for- when it is rush-hour. a brave man out in the cold for many| man out in the cold for many hours. nicky schiller, thank you. with the ice and snow, many are deciding to stay home today. but not rachel hubbard, a doctor from sheffield who decided to hike to work to make sure she could care for her patients. as any kind of doctor who works in the peak district knows, we love hiking, i saw the weather forecast and knew i had to come

to provide radiology care for patients, so the only way i was going to make it in was to set my alarm early, get my hiking poles out, put decent boots on and look like i'm trekking to the north pole. trekking until i made it to the hospital 0k. how easy or difficult was it? hiking in the snow it looks like it was dark, that couldn't have been easy. it like it was dark, that couldn't have been easy.— have been easy. it was seven o'clock have been easy. it was seven o'clock so _ have been easy. it was seven o'clock so pretty _ have been easy. it was seven o'clock so pretty dark, - have been easy. it was seven o'clock so pretty dark, but. have been easy. it was seven | o'clock so pretty dark, but the snow was really nice, soft, so i took it slow and enjoyed the views i'm looking forward to getting into a warm room in the hospital. not as bad as i feared. ~ . , ~ feared. what is it like getting back? i am — feared. what is it like getting back? i am still— feared. what is it like getting back? i am still at _ feared. what is it like getting back? i am still at work - feared. what is it like getting back? i am still at work but l feared. what is it like getting back? i am still at work but i | back? i am still at work but i will let you _ back? i am still at work but i will let you know _ back? i am still at work but i will let you know when - back? i am still at work but i will let you know when i - back? i am still at work but i will let you know when i get | will let you know when i get home. i'm hoping a colleague will give me a lift home as a thank you. will give me a lift home as a thank vom— will give me a lift home as a thank yon-— will give me a lift home as a thank you. we are hoping for the best for _ thank you. we are hoping for the best for you. _ thank you. we are hoping for the best for you. tell - thank you. we are hoping for the best for you. tell us - thank you. we are hoping for the best for you. tell us why| the best for you. tell us why was it so important for you to make it to work today? some

people would have phoned in, these met office warnings, with these met office warnings, with the nhs under such pressure during the winter, it is important for everyone to get to work. i important for everyone to get to work. ~' , ., important for everyone to get to work. ~ , ., ., to work. i think you get to the heart of the — to work. i think you get to the heart of the nhs _ to work. i think you get to the heart of the nhs and - to work. i think you get to the heart of the nhs and why - to work. i think you get to the heart of the nhs and why we | heart of the nhs and why we love it. it is free care for people at the point of need, i have a responsibility to do the best that i can i pride myself on doing that. i knew it was worth it to go early. just make sure whoever came to a&e, whoever has relatives our loved ones if they needed access to imaging we are able to do that with my great team and the doctors and nurses and everyone at the hospital. to provide the care that people deserve and need. ., ., , care that people deserve and need. . ., , m care that people deserve and need. . . , w , the us is bracing for a huge winter storm that could see the heaviest snowfall and coldest temperatures in decades. five states have declared a state of emergency but at least 25 more are under weather alerts as the storm is expected to begin in the centre of the country before spreading eastwards. our north america correspondent rowan bridge

is following developments — and told us the latest on conditions across the us. it really depends where you are in the united states. if you are somewhere like kansas, the weather conditions are pretty dire. the national weather service is warning of treacherous and potentially life—threatening conditions. talking of a white out. what you have is a combination of heavy snowfall, up to 35 centimetres being predicted, and potentially high winds. creating blizzard conditions. extremely treacherous and what you have seen is the knock—on effects. widespread disruption to travel, for example we have seen amtrak, the american rail network has had widespread cancellations. flights which is the main way to travel round the main way to travel round the us, 3000 flights cancelled. we have had more delayed on top of that so widespread

disruption to certain parts of the united states, five states have declared a state of emergency but those weather alerts go as far south as places like florida. the so—called sunshine state known for mild conditions, which gives you an idea of the extent of what we're talking about. those weather conditions are heading eastwards. even in washington where it is pretty cold, at the moment the weather is pretty clear. those conditions are due to get a lot worse and other major cities on the east coast of the us, places like baltimore are also likely to be affected severely over the next 2a or 48 hours. over the next 24 or 48 hours. places that haven't been affected so far on the east coast are bracing themselves for worse to come. tell coast are bracing themselves for worse to come.— coast are bracing themselves for worse to come. tell us what could happen — for worse to come. tell us what could happen in _ for worse to come. tell us what could happen in the _ for worse to come. tell us what could happen in the next - for worse to come. tell us what could happen in the next few. could happen in the next few days and how dangerous could it get? days and how dangerous could it let? , days and how dangerous could it i et? , ., days and how dangerous could it let? , ., . ., ., , get? these weather conditions are serious. _ get? these weather conditions are serious. we _ get? these weather conditions are serious. we are _ get? these weather conditions are serious. we are talking - are serious. we are talking several centimetres of snow and

the united states is used to dealing with cold weather and snow certainly in northern states, but as you said, we are talking about potentially some of the worst weather conditions this country has seen in a decade. that is likely to cause widespread disruption over an extended period of time, affecting tens of millions of americans. that is a significant weather threat. to a large part of the united states, and likely to show widespread disruption across the united states. and before we move on — there's been heavy snow in the state of utah which has sparked an avalanche there. have a look at this dramatic video taken from inside a car — capturing the moment an avalanche roared down a mountainside in salt lake county — briefly stranding skiers there. local media reported up to five inches of snow in the area. let's get more now on that storm sweeping across the us — and the weather disruption here in the uk. bbc weather presenter

louise learjoins us looking at that snow, have we seen the worst of it? i looking at that snow, have we seen the worst of it?— seen the worst of it? i think the worst — seen the worst of it? i think the worst is _ seen the worst of it? i think the worst is out _ seen the worst of it? i think the worst is out of- seen the worst of it? i think the worst is out of the - seen the worst of it? i think. the worst is out of the way, we still have that amber weather warning but in that fact that will stay in force until midnight. mostly for the north of england. that is where we have seen the most widespread snow, if we take a look at the rain radarand snow, if we take a look at the rain radar and snow, you can see where the snow has been, the higher ground across the pennines. it is now rain at lower levels and that is one of the reasons why the amber weather warning will ease. that front is not moving very far, it is still going to produce some snow through the night, and quite a lot of wet weather as it starts to ease away. we are still in the cold air and thatis are still in the cold air and that is the issue with the ice warnings that we have. these are towns and city centres, around freezing, in rural parts

well below freezing. icy stretches are going to have a major impact tomorrow morning. in the week ahead there is no let up because the cold conditions continue with more wintry showers, not widespread snow but certainly hard frost. friday morning temperatures in scotland could be as low as —15 celsius. scotland could be as low as -15 celsius. ., ., ~' . scotland could be as low as -15 celsius. ., ., ~ ., , celsius. looking at events in the us, celsius. looking at events in the us, we _ celsius. looking at events in the us, we are _ celsius. looking at events in the us, we are hearing - celsius. looking at events in the us, we are hearing that| the us, we are hearing that this is the worst storm in decades as we heard earlier. how bad is it? it decades as we heard earlier. how bad is it?— how bad is it? it is pretty similar to _ how bad is it? it is pretty similar to what _ how bad is it? it is pretty similar to what is - how bad is it? it is pretty i similar to what is happening across the uk, it is all to do with temperature contrasts because we have this bitterly cold air coming from canada, denver in colorado, where it is bumping into this warm air from the gulf of mexico we have this weather front. the gulf of mexico we have this weatherfront. on the gulf of mexico we have this weather front. on the leading edge just like weather front. on the leading edgejust like in weather front. on the leading edge just like in the weather front. on the leading edgejust like in the uk, we will see snow. ohio, kentucky,

west virginia seen significant snow and even if you haven't got snow you have very heavy rain. just like us, behind it, that colder air is pushing south. some states and towns will see temperatures way below average for the time of year and it will be moving towards washington. the cold air will move as far south as florida and residents of florida are not used to the kinds of temperatures we will be seeing over the next few days. louise, thank you- _ elon musk has called for nigel farage to be replaced as the leader of reform uk, just weeks after reports that the billionair