LIVE: Snow falls with roads and motorway shut and Manchester Airport runways closed

Heavy snowfall is falling across Greater Manchester this morning as the region is covered by two severe weather warnings.

Two Met Office amber snow warnings are in place throughout Sunday morning, after coming into force yesterday afternoon. Snow is expected across much of Greater Manchester over the next few hours.

People have been warned to expect major travel disruption and potential power outages, with remote communities at 'risk' of becoming cut off. Up to 40cm of snow could fall across higher ground, the Met Office have said.

An amber snow and ice warning has been in force from 6pm yesterday (January 4) until 12pm on Sunday (January 5). It affects the southern parts of Greater Manchester, alongside large swathes of Wales, the East Midlands, Cheshire and Merseyside and the South West.

A second amber warning for snow is also in place from 9pm yesterday until 11.59pm on Sunday. It covers northern stretches of Greater Manchester and much of northern England. A less-severe yellow weather warning for snow and ice is also in place covering much of England and Wales, running until 11.59pm on Sunday.

Just after 6am, Manchester Airport said it had shut its runways due to snow, although said it would clear them 'as quickly as possible'.

On the roads, both Woodhead Pass and Snake Pass are shut due to the heavy snow, with two lanes on the M61 shut in both directions between junction 5 and 6. The M62 over the Saddleworth moors, between junction 23 and 21, also have a lane shut.

Liverpool vs Manchester United is scheduled to take place at 4.30pm this afternoon. However, our sister site The Liverpool Echo reports a safety meeting is due to be held this morning 'to discuss next steps regards to the match'.

In the meeting, safety