UK weather: Britain bracing itself for snow as arctic winds trigger yellow warning

Britain was braced for snow as the Met Office warned that a blast of Arctic wind would send temperatures plunging as low as minus eight degrees celsius this week.

The northerly winds, which are usually more common in February and March, were set to bring with them icy blasts and snow flurries with a yellow warning for snow put in place for northern Scotland on Wednesday.

However, sleet and snow could reach down into northern England and Northern Ireland, settling in upland areas.

Alex Burkill, Met Office meteorologist, said: “At the moment we have an easterly flow and as such our winds are coming from the east and that is a cold direction and it is cold out. However, from Tuesday onwards, we are going to get a northerly flow, so our winds coming from the north, that is Arctic air leading to our temperatures dropping even further as we go through this week.

“It’s going to turn even colder and feel even colder still with temperatures well below average for the time of year both by day and by night.”

Cold snap

He said that temperatures overnight Wednesday into Thursday would drop to minus 7C or minus 8C - or even colder. Daytime temperatures were likely to remain in the low single digits.

He added: “It looks like the cold is going to be very widespread, perhaps Northern Ireland and East Anglia won’t be that cold, maybe just a degree or two below freezing, otherwise we are talking about several degrees below freezing across Scotland, Wales.

“Much of England, including the South West, we could see temperatures of minus 5C or minus 6C which is exceptionally cold.

“We have a snow warning across the northern half of Scotland for Wednesday and that is when the snow showers coming from the north will be most impactful, they will probably start on Tuesday and we will see very significant snow in the north.

The weather warning for Scotland states that up to two inches of snow may settle on lower ground, rising to 4 inches on ground above 650 feet.

Blue skies expected

Despite the icy temperatures, Mr Burkill pointed out that for much of the cold snap there would be clear blue skies, meaning “crisp” weather.

“At the moment it is cloudy meaning there won’t be huge differences between daily highs and overnight lows but as we go through this week, we will get that cold northerly flow with clearer skies so sunny and crisp by day but even colder at night.”

The plunging temperatures come with average energy bills set to hit £2,500, around double the price cap in place last year.

The frigid weather follows the third warmest November on record in the UK, which had softened some of the blow of the energy crisis.

Overall, Britain remains set for yet another warmest year on record. This summer, areas of the country breached 40 degrees celsius for the first time.

Christmas weather

Despite the warnings of frigid temperatures, with three weeks to go until Christmas, it looked like temperatures would return to normal by the time festivities get underway.

“There are signs that we should start to see something a bit more unsettled coming up from the south, as we go through the week before the week leading up to Christmas,” said Mr Burkhill.

“As a result, as we head towards Christmas Day itself… at the moment, it’s more likely that temperatures will probably return to normal for the time of year.”

That won’t mean a warm Christmas, he said, but it would be well above the biting temperatures to come this week.