ST HELENS has seen a sustained spell of snow showers this morning.

Flurries started before 7am and have grown stronger as the morning has progressed.

Some of the snowfall has left a light covering on the ground and showers are expected to continue through the morning.

Forecasters issued several areas across the North West with a yellow weather warning due to wintry showers are expected.

In St Helens, the warning was in place from 6am on Thursday and is expected to last until 2pm on Friday afternoon.

Although heavy showers are forecast this morning, there is only a small chance of a significant build up on the ground.

READ> Hour-by-hour weather forecast for St Helens

A spokesperson from the Met Office said: “An area of low pressure will move across the UK on Thursday and Friday with snow developing across Wales and central England early on Thursday morning.

 “This is expected to move slowly north during the day, becoming slow-moving across north Wales, northern England, Northern Ireland and southern Scotland during the afternoon and evening before slowly clearing southeast on Friday.

“Snow will likely turn to sleet or rain at times at lower elevations, especially in the south of the warning area, as well as near eastern coasts.

“At low levels including major cities such as Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle accumulations are expected to be limited with a small chance of 2-5 cm falling.

"However, significant snow accumulations are possible over hills of northern England (including populated areas of South and West Yorkshire), Northern Ireland and southern Scotland.

“Here, 10-15 cm is expected quite widely above 100 metres, with a chance that 25-40 cm could fall in some places. Additionally, there is potential for strong winds, which may lead to blizzard conditions and drifting of lying snow.

“Ice is likely to develop widely on Friday night as this system clears away.”

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