Wintry conditions will continue this week across Scotland and northern England before cold air pushes across the whole UK
Snow and ice have already caused disruption this week closing some transport routes etc. National Severe Weather warnings have been issued throughout the coming week, including an Amber warning for snow in Scotland on Friday and Saturday.
Cold air from Scandinavia will continue to sit across the north of the UK for much of this week, while to the South West warm, moist air is pushing in from the Atlantic. Where these two air masses meet rain turns to snow, especially on high ground.
Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Paul Gundersen, said: “Up to the weekend, the forecast is dominated by snow for Scotland and northern England. The Met Office has issued a number of weather warnings, including an Amber warning for Scotland, where up to 30cm of snowfall could affect higher routes and communities. A number of other snow & ice and rain warnings remain in force for the northern half of the UK for Thursday and Friday.”
Later this week a low-pressure system, which will slowly cross southern England, will pull away to the south east allowing a flow of cold air from the eastern continent to enter the UK, affecting eastern and south-eastern areas first.
From Saturday, the emphasis on cold conditions extends further south to include a combined snow and ice warning for eastern England as conditions further south are forecast to turn increasingly wintry.
Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist, Mark Sidaway, added: “Into the weekend snow will continue across much of Scotland, and is likely to increasingly fall to low levels before beginning to move south into northern and eastern England.
“We are likely to see some very large accumulations across higher parts of Scotland especially, with strong winds leading to significant drifting and blizzard conditions at times.”
“Although amounts of snow across England are likely to be less than seen across Scotland, the potential is there for some heavy snow across eastern England later in the weekend, and perhaps elsewhere in southern Britain as we head into next week, with very cold easterly winds.”
Next week will stay chilly for much of the UK with brisk easterly winds making it feel even colder. However, the weather is potentially drier than this week. Our 6-30 day forecast currently points to the likelihood of cold conditions continuing into mid-February.
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