More unsettled wintry weather
Author: Press Office
14:05 (UTC) on Wed 17 Jan 2018
Many areas across the UK will continue to see wet and windy weather over the next few days with showers falling as snow over higher ground
There are a number of National Severe Weather Warnings in place for wind, snow and snow and ice for today, tomorrow and Friday.
A low pressure system will cross the UK tonight (Weds) bringing strong winds to large parts of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with gusts of 50-60 mph likely quite widely and a small chance of winds reaching 70 mph in places, especially for parts of Lincolnshire and East Anglia on Thursday morning, coinciding with the rush hour to bring the risk of travel disruption.
Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Steve Willington, said; “On the northern edge of this low pressure system we are expecting to see some more snow. Parts of northern England, southern Scotland and Northern Ireland are likely to see the heaviest and most persistent snow, with 3 to 8 cm of fresh snow in places and, over higher ground, there could be as much as 20 cm."
Tia Howarth, Highways England Operations Manager, said: “We’re encouraging drivers to check the latest weather and travel conditions before setting off on journeys, with strong winds expected throughout today and tomorrow morning.
“In high winds, there’s a particular risk to lorries, caravans and motorbikes so we’d advise drivers of these vehicles to slow down and avoid using exposed sections of road if possible.”
The gales will ease as we go through Thursday morning, leaving a cold and blustery day for many with some sunny spells and scattered wintry showers, these most frequent in the north and west.
As the low pressure system pulls away from the eastern coast of the UK towards Europe during the early hours of Thursday it is expected to deepen further. This has led to this system being named Storm David by the French national meteorological service, Meteo France. The winds will strengthen as it crosses the North Sea bringing impacts to the Netherlands on Thursday.
Back in the UK, as we go through to the end of the week widespread frosts are expected for man,y with the risk of wintry showers and snow continuing, especially in the northwest and over higher ground.
Looking back to Tuesday night and Storm Fionn was named by Met Éireann for a period of strong winds affecting the Republic of Ireland. Strong winds were recorded, especially across western counties, with the highest gust of 75 mph recorded at Mace Head, Galway.
However, whilst it was breezy across the United Kingdom, the winds were not strong enough to bring any significant impacts here.
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