The Harrogate district is bracing itself for heavy snow later today, with an amber weather warning in place.

The Met Office has warned that the most severe weather is expected from around 3pm, lasting until noon tomorrow.

The warning, which covers large parts of North Yorkshire, said:

“Heavy snow is likely to cause significant disruption on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning.

“[Expect] travel delays on roads, stranding some vehicles and passengers. Some delays and cancellations to rail and air travel are likely.

“There is a good chance that some rural communities could become cut off. Power cuts are likely and other services, such as mobile phone coverage, may be affected.”

There is still a high degree of uncertainty, however, with the Harrogate district being on the edge of the amber warning area and the BBC forecast showing only light snow and sleet for the rest of the day.

This morning, snow has been falling steadily in Harrogate and Knaresborough, leaving a covering on fields and gardens. However, roads are largely unaffected and remain clear.

To the north and west of Harrogate, conditions are clearer, with only light, sleety snowfall so far.

However, the forecast is for the weather to deteriorate later in the day, leading some traders to stay away from today’s market in Ripon, even though there was no snow early this morning.

Ripon market early today

Brian Murphy

Fruit and vegetable trader Brian Murphy was on site as usual this morning. He told the Stray Ferret:

“We will be keeping a close eye on the weather.

“Other traders who come from further away have decided not to come today because of fears that heavy snow could see them stuck here and unable to get home.”

Meanwhile, RHS Harlow Carr in Harrogate is closed today, as is Bettys’ on-site cafe – though its shop remains open.

Harewood House has also said it will close tomorrow.

Harrogate College has issued a notice that it plans to close its doors at 1pm to ensure students and staff can get home safely.

⚠️ Important weather announcement ⚠️

Due to the heavy snow predicted this afternoon, Harrogate College will be closing at 1pm today allowing time for staff and students to safely travel home.

Online learning will take place, please contact your tutor if you have any questions.

— Harrogate College (@HarrogateColl) March 9, 2023

There are no school closures so far today. Some nurseries in the area have asked parents to collect children as early as possible this afternoon before conditions worsen.

The Stray Ferret will continue to cover the weather conditions as they change today, tonight and into tomorrow. Keep checking our site and our Facebook and Twitter feeds for the latest news, including school closures, transport updates and more.

Got something to report? Email the news team with the details.

The Liberal Democrats would win Harrogate and Knaresborough if a general election was held tomorrow, according to polling firm YouGov.

The company has published modelling based on 64 ‘blue wall’ Conservative-Liberal Democrat battleground seats.

The seats were chosen because they were won by the Conservatives at the 2019 general election but the Liberal Democrats received above 20% of the vote.

YouGov predicts the Conservatives would retain 38 seats, the Liberal Democrats would win 24 and Labour would win two.

Among those forecast to fall is Andrew Jones’ seat, which he won with a majority of 9,675 in 2019, relegating the Liberal Democrats to second.

YouGov predicts the Liberal Democrats would get 43% of the vote in Harrogate and Knaresborough, compared with 39% for the Conservatives and 9% for Labour.

It comes days after Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey pledged to make Harrogate and Knaresborough a target seat during a visit to Harrogate.

The polling says the Conservatives would also lose seats belonging to deputy prime minister Dominic Raab and former leadership contender Jeremy Hunt to the Liberal Democrats.

The company said in a statement:

“Although constituencies would fall to the Liberal Democrats all across the country, including Harrogate and Knaresborough in the north and South Cambridgeshire in the east, perhaps the most striking losses come in the south west, where we estimate that the Conservative vote share is down by over 16 points on 2019.

“Many more Conservative seats are close to being flipped: no fewer than 11 of the 38 predicted holds would be retained by a margin of less than five points. “

Read more:

• Andrew Jones MP writes to Priti Patel about ‘law-breaking’ Travellers
• Sir Ed Davey: Lib Dems will target Harrogate and Knaresborough as key seat

The only Con-Lib Dem battlegrounds region where Labour have increased their vote share on 2019 is in London, where they are up by three points.

In all other regions their vote share in these battleground seats is down – despite Labour’s vote intention being around six to nine points higher than the 32% they managed at the last election.

A severe cold weather warning is in place for the Harrogate district from midnight tonight until Thursday.

With ice and snow possible, the UK Health Security Agency has encouraged people to stay warm and look out for those most at risk.

Many people in the district woke up to snow and ice today but temperatures are set to drop lower tonight to minus three degrees centigrade overnight.

Another photo of Middlesmoor this morning by Pierce Arhnöld,

The Met Office has warned that the north-east, north-west and Yorkshire and Humber regions will experience cold weather until midday on Thursday.

Read more:

• Harrogate district covid rate sets new high as Omicron cases surge
• Funeral celebrates life of Harrogate musician Aaron Bertenshaw

Agostinho Sousa, a consultant in public health medicine at UKHSA, said:

“Cold weather can have a serious impact on health, particularly for older people and those with heart and lung problems, as it increases the risks of heart attacks, strokes and chest infections.

“It’s important to check on those who are more vulnerable to cold weather, including older neighbours or relatives – especially those living alone or those who have serious illness.

“Remind them to heat their home to at least 18 Celsius, 64.4 Fahrenheit and to keep up to date with the forecast.”

Met Office chief meteorologist Neil Armstrong said:

“This change is being brought on by a cold northerly flow, which brings with it the risk of some wintry showers in places in northern England, especially over high ground.

“Minimum temperatures over the next few days are expected to drop below freezing, heightening the risk of some ice formation.”