New Year's weather: Snow warning issued by Met Office for Wakefield, Pontefract and Castleford

A combination of rain, strong winds and snow are featuring in the Wakefield forecast for the New Year transition period.

A yellow weather warning for snow and rain was issued this morning by the Met Office for Wednesday, January 1 and into the morning of Thursday, January 2 – however it has since been removed.

Despite this, heavy snow and colder conditions are still expected.

The current forecast for Wakefield, for Wednesday to Friday, reads: “Wednesday, windy with heavy rain turning to snow. Much colder Thursday and Friday, with wintry showers and strong winds gradually easing.”

The district will also see temperatures plummit to -1C.

Andy Page, Chief Forecaster at the Met Office, said: “There is a very complicated weather forecast for the UK with snow, strong winds and heavy rain all feature for parts of the UK.

"Almost the entire UK is covered by at least one weather warning during the coming week. With such a varied and complex weather situation there is potential for the pattern of warnings to shift and possibly escalate in some areas.

“With lots of celebrations and people on the move over the coming days, we are urging everyone to keep checking the forecast so they can update their plans.”

As January continues, the Met Office has stated that further snow is expected with “showers of rain and sleet expected to turn into snow”.