Explainers

THE massive clash between Liverpool and Manchester United today is going AHEAD after an emergency meeting.The North West had been braced for more severe weather just days after being hit with major flooding.The Met Office map shows Liverpool and much of the North West under an amber weather warningAnfield had been covered in snow on Sunday morningCredit: AFPWith snow and ice now thawing and more heavy rain expected, the Met Office had issued an amber weather warning across the region for this weekend.Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport had the runway temporarily closed this morning but it reopened at 10.15am.Liverpool City Council’s Ground Safety Advisory Group met at 9am and then again at 11.45am to discuss whether the match could go ahead.At the latter meeting, it was decided the game could still go ahead as scheduled.LIVERPOOL VS MAN UTD LIVE – LATEST UPDATESHowever, three of this afternoon’s EFL matches have been postponed as the freezing weather causes havoc.Chesterfield were due to host Gillingham in League Two at 3pm.And in the same division, Fleetwood planned to take on AFC Wimbledon and Newport vs Morecombe.However, the heavy snow storms and adverse weather meant both games had to be called off.Fleetwood, in the North West, is under a yellow weather warning from the Met Office for snow and ice.But it was even more severe in Chesterfield with the same warning – plus an additional amber warning for snow.Freezing rain is also expected during the sub-zero temperatures, sparking further headaches for the authorities.And therefore the decisions were made on Sunday to postpone the matches.What has the Met Office said?The Met Office statement read: “Snow will become persistent and locally heavy as it pushes south to north across the warning area.”As well as snow, a period of freezing rain is also likely bringing some hazardous travel conditions, before milder air follows across all areas by Sunday morning.”While there’s some uncertainty in details, 3-7cm of snow is likely for most of the warning area, with locally 15-30cm for the higher ground of Wales and the southern Pennines. “Freezing rain could lead to ice accretion in places, especially parts of Wales – before the milder air leads to a rapid thaw of snow and ice in the south of the warning area through Sunday.” More

THE massive clash between Liverpool and Manchester United on Sunday is firmly in DOUBT.The North West is bracing for more severe weather just days after being hit with major flooding.The Met Office map shows Liverpool and much of the North West under an amber weather warningLiverpool’s clash with Man Utd is now in doubtCredit: GettyTorrential rain saw trains cancelled, roads closed and some people even evacuating their homes.With snow and ice now thawing and more heavy rain expected, the Met Office has issued an amber weather warning across the region.They state that “significant disruption” is expected from 9pm GMT on Saturday night.The warning will remain in force throughout Sunday until 23.59pm GMT at least.Merseyside is one of the areas affected by the amber warning and with temperatures set to drop below freezing on Saturday night.That means Anfield and surrounding areas could be blanketed in snow – leaving Liverpool and Manchester United’s clash under threat.While it would be relatively easy to make the pitch playable, the bigger risk would be to the tens of thousands of home and away supporters heading to the stadium.A Safety Advisory Group meeting is likely to take place on Sunday at some point.Officials from both clubs and representatives from Merseyside Police and Liverpool City Council are expected to be present.What has the Met Office said?The Met Office statement read: “Snow will become persistent and locally heavy as it pushes south to north across the warning area.”As well as snow, a period of freezing rain is also likely bringing some hazardous travel conditions, before milder air follows across all areas by Sunday morning.”While there’s some uncertainty in details, 3-7cm of snow is likely for most of the warning area, with locally 15-30cm for the higher ground of Wales and the southern Pennines. “Freezing rain could lead to ice accretion in places, especially parts of Wales – before the milder air leads to a rapid thaw of snow and ice in the south of the warning area through Sunday.”Liverpool are already a fixture behind after Storm Darragh saw the Merseyside derby postponed in early December.A number of non-League fixtures were postponed on Saturday, mostly due to frozen pitches. More