The airport confirmed its decision in a tweet issued shortly after 9.30am, pledging to reopen as soon as possible.
"Due to heavy snow fall, we have temporary closed both runways," read the tweet. "Health and safety will always be our top priority and operations will resume at the earliest opportunity.
https://twitter.com/manairport/status/1601510271851237376
"Passengers are advised to contact their airline for the most up-to-date flight information."
The airport later confirmed its runways reopened from 11.30am and apologised to passengers for any inconvenience caused.
It comes amid a period of sustained wintery weather across the UK, which saw people in many areas wake up to freshly settled snow on Saturday.
The Met Office office has issued a yellow warning for snow and ice covering the Manchester area, which will remain in place until midday on Sunday (11 December).
There are also yellow warnings for snow and ice covering Belfast, Glasgow and the Scottish Highlands, with a similar yellow warning for the south east due to come into effect tomorrow lasting into Monday (12 December).
https://twitter.com/manairport/status/1601542886340063232
Ryanair said the snowy conditions in the North West had affected a "small number" of its flights departing Manchester and Liverpool airports on Saturday.
"Due to snowy weather conditions in the UK, we are experiencing a small number of delays to our flights from Liverpool and Manchester Airports today (10 December)," it tweeted.
"While our teams are working hard to minimise disruption to customers, Ryanair advises all customers flying from the UK today (10 December ) to check the Ryanair website/app for flight status updates before travelling to the airport."
