Wintry conditions for parts of northern Britain
Author: Press Office
13:38 (UTC) on Sun 23 Feb 2020
The forecast for the coming week remains unsettled with rain and snow on Monday followed by a colder, showery spell mid-week.
A renewed spell of rain and strong winds may then affect some southern areas later this week.
A range of severe weather warnings for rain, and snow & ice are in place for Monday. An area of low pressure on Monday provides a continuation of the extremely unsettled period the UK has endured. The expected wind impacts from this system have reduced as it moves towards the UK, and Met Office wind warnings for this system have now been stood down. However, the main risk now are wintry conditions across the northern half of Britain and Northern Ireland as this system moves north-east into an area of relatively cold air.
Dan Suri is a chief forecaster at the Met Office. He said: “This low-pressure system will bring a lot of moisture into contact with the relatively cold air across the northern half of the UK. This brings wintry conditions to an extending from East Yorkshire to North Lancashire across into Northern Ireland and northwards Scotland. For some, snowfall could coincide with the Monday rush hour, bringing additional complications.”
The bulk of snow accumulations in northern England are expected to occur at locations above 200 metres in elevation, but it’s likely that some sites lower than this could witness transient flurries before these turn to rain. The snowfall in Scotland is expected to be heavier with accumulations of 2 to 5cm above 100 to 200 metres; sites above 300 metres may witness accumulations of 10 to 20 cm, most likely north of the Central Belt. Urban areas on the immediate east coast of northern England and eastern Scotland may miss the snow though.
Beyond Monday there are currently no warnings scheduled but showers, some wintry, could place an additional burden on some river catchments: the public should check flood risk and stay up to date with flood warnings from Natural Resources Wales, SEPA, NI Direct and the Environment Agency.
You can get the most accurate and up to date forecast for your area using our forecast pages and by following us on Twitter and Facebook, as well as using our mobile app which is available for iPhone from the App store and for Android from the Google Play store.