UPDATED: The 'Beast from the East' has arrived

As expected, the ‘Beast from the East’ Siberian icy blast arrived overnight, and Oldhamers woke up to weather and travel headaches in many areas.

Most of the major roads remain clear and traffic is moving slowly, largely thanks to the Council’s gritting team being out and about through the night.

By 10am, five Oldham Council schools had been forced to close – Oldham Academy North, Waterhead Academy, Crompton Primary, Broadfield and Alexandra Park.

Waterhead Academy is the latest school to announce it will be closed.

A statement on the school website said: “Following further site inspections at 9am In the interest of Health and Safety the academy will be unfortunately be closed today as we would be unable to evacuate the building safely should it be needed.

“We will be in contact over he next 24 hours worth regular updates.”

Pupils at the Radclyffe School in Chadderton and Royton and Crompton were sent home at lunchtime.

Minor delays are currently affecting all other services across the Metrolink network, including the Bury and Rochdale lines, while the vast majority of buses are now running on time.

Dozens of flights have been cancelled or delayed at Manchester Airport.

Some services have been affected by poor weather at the destination, while others have been left waiting on the ground at Manchester while they get their wings de-iced.

Temperatures have dipped to around 1C this morning, but the wind chill means it'll feel around -4C and even -8C later tonight.

Yellow weather warnings are still in place for snow across the region until midnight tonight, while there’s a particularly high chance of snow in Oldham at around 8pm tonight.

Transport for Greater Manchester has said all of the region’s major transport routes are ‘passable’, though commuters should allow extra time for their journeys.

Meanwhile, the Met Office has issued further warnings as Storm Emma moves in from the west.

Named by the Met Office's Portuguese partners, the weather system will batter Britain only days after the ‘Beast from the East’ delivered today's snowfall and plunging temperatures.

Yellow warnings for ice and snow have been issued for the north-west on Friday and Saturday.

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