The Met Office has upgraded a weather warning, which covers East Lancashire, from yellow to Amber.

An amber warning has been issued for Burnley as well as parts of Rossendale and Hyndburn, which comes into force from 3pm on Thursday (March 9) until 12pm on Friday (March 10).

The Met Office say blizzards and up to 40cm of snow are in the forecast.

A yellow weather warning, which was announced earlier today, remains in place for Blackburn with Darwen, the Ribble Valley and Pendle.

This comes into force on Thursday at 7am until 2pm.

Follow live updates on the snow in East Lancashire here, as the white stuff has begun to fall across the region.

A Met Office spokesperson said: “The boundary between milder and colder air will slowly move north through Wednesday and overnight, moving the chances of snow further north with it.

“Snow will have settled quite widely in central parts of the UK as we move into Thursday morning leaving tricky conditions for the morning travel period. It will be another very cold night, especially under clear skies in Scotland where temperatures could get down to -15°C again tonight. 

“An amber warning for snow has been issued for the high ground running north in the centre of northern England as snow redevelops through the course of Thursday and persist until early Friday. Here we could see up to 40cm of snow accompanied by strong winds causing blizzard conditions.”

MORE: 25 photos of when it REALLY snowed in East Lancs

Snow is predicted in all East Lancashire towns this week. Snow has been seen falling from skies in Blackburn earlier today.

In Blackburn with Darwen Burnley, the Ribble Valley, Pendle, Hyndburn and Rossendale snow is forecast throughout the day on Thursday and again on Friday morning.

Temperatures are expected to dip as low as -6°C with the coldest day forecast to be Friday.

Here is Blackburn with Darwen’s detailed forecast:

  • Thursday, March 9: Yellow weather warning. Light snow predicted at 12pm turning heavier at 5pm. Highs of 2°C and lows of 0°C.
  • Friday, March 10: Yellow weather warning. Light snow predicted from midnight until 9am. Turning sunny in the afternoon. Highs of 4°C and lows of -5°C.
  • Saturday, March 11: Cloudy changing to sleet. Highs of 4°C and lows of 2°C.
  • Sunday, March 12: Light rain changing to cloudy. Highs of 9°C and lows of 6°C.