Rare freezing rain and black ice to test UK's Christmas shoppers

Christmas shoppers have been warned to take extra care on Saturday, with widespread heavy freezing rain expected to create hazardous conditions on the UK’s roads.

The Met Office has predicted widespread freezing rain on
 Saturday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year

The Met Office issued an amber weather warning for parts of England and Scotland, highlighting the risk of rapidly forming ice on roads and pavements, while high ground in Scotland could face up to 40cm of snow.

“Tomorrow is going to be treacherous day for many areas. We are going to see widespread freezing rain events, which is fairly unusual,” said the Met Office forecaster Mark Wilson, adding that the north of England and southern Scotland would be worst hit.

“The concern is there will be lot of people on the roads at this time of year, and black ice can produce very dangerous driving conditions, so our strong recommendation is to be mindful of the very difficult situation on the roads,” he said.

Read the story from The Guardian by Alexandra Topping - “Rare freezing rain and black ice to test UK's Christmas shoppers.”