Snow alert for Sunderland: Met Office issues Yellow Weather Warning for snow and ice to hit parts of city

The warning comes into force at 7pm today (November 18) and lasts until 10am tomorrow (November 19).

A statement on the Met Office website said: “An area of snow may bring disruption to a central swathe of the UK during Monday night and Tuesday morning.”

The warning highlights the risk of injuries and travel disruption.

A Met Office spokesperson added: “There is a small chance that power cuts will occur and other services, such as mobile phone coverage, may be affected

“There is also a small chance that untreated pavements and cycle paths become impassable with the chance of injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces.

“There is a slight chance that some rural communities could become cut off and that bus and train services may be delayed or cancelled, with some road closures and longer journey times.”

The warning covers Washington with the forecast predicting today (November 18) to be a dry but cold day, with a temperature high of just three degrees Celsius, falling to minus two degrees Celsius overnight.

There is a 60% chance of light snow from 11pm. The early hours of Tuesday morning are currently forecast to see sleet showers, turning back to a 50% to 60% chance of light snow between 8am and 11am. The temperature in Washington is set to peak at just two degrees Celsius with north to north westerly wind bringing a wind-chill of minus four degrees Celsius.

Further inland, there is 50% to 70% chance of light snow starting to fall in Durham City between midday and midnight. Between midnight and 4am tomorrow (November 19) this increases to an 80% probability of heavy snow. This then changes to between a 60% to 80% chance of light snow showers or sleet between 4am and 9am.

Sunderland city centre and coastal areas are currently forecast to be just outside of the weather warning zone, and whilst temperatures will peak at just four degrees Celsius on Monday and Tuesday, showers are forecast to be sleet, rather than snow.

The rest of the working week is forecast to remain cold with temperatures in Sunderland on Wednesday and Thursday peaking at just two and three degrees Celsius respectively.

Overnight temperatures in Sunderland are set to fall below freezing level, with a low of minus three degrees Celsius forecast for Friday night.

The current Met Office forecast suggests temperatures will start to rise by the weekend with daytime highs of six and seven degrees Celsius on Saturday and Sunday and temperatures remaining above freezing overnight.

This is the Met Office forecast at the time of writing and is obviously subject to change.