A change in the weather

There are still a couple of cold days to get through, but the weekend will see a notable change in weather for the UK.

Milder air moves in

Chief Meteorologist Neil Armstrong, said: “For the past week the UK has been in a very cold airmass with temperatures well below average, this will change through the weekend as milder air moves in from the Atlantic and pushes that cold airmass out into the North Sea. Where temperatures were close to freezing in many places last week, we could expect to see 11°C or 12°C next week.

Wintry hazards in some places

“There are still some wintry hazards to get through over the next few days, with low temperatures, strong winds and further snow especially in Northern Ireland. On Sunday there is a risk of freezing rain over the high ground in Scotland and northern England, with further snow in the Scottish hills before turning to rain as the warm air takes hold.”

National Severe Weather Warning

The risk of further snow showers through Friday is now confined to eastern parts of Scotland and northern England, Yellow National Severe Weather Warnings are still in force.

Elsewhere Friday will be a dry and fine day, with the best of the sunshine in western parts of Scotland although it will be notably windy with severe wind chill. Around western coastal regions gusts could reach up to 50-55mph. Another widespread frost is expected overnight although with the strong winds the low temperatures will not be as extreme as previous nights.

Early on Saturday a band of precipitation will move in from the west. In Northern Ireland this will fall as snow with accumulations of 10-20cm possible in western and southern regions. A Yellow warning for snow is in force for the whole day.

Upcoming forecast

As the front approaches the mainland it weakens, some rain may reach parts of south west England and there could be some snow showers on the north west coasts. It will also remain windy through Saturday with continued gusts of up to 55mph. Eastern parts of the UK will have the brightest and driest weather.

A further front will move eastwards across the UK on Sunday, pushing the cold air away to the east and opening the door for milder Atlantic driven weather systems. After another overnight frost, mostly in the north and east, a mix of rain, snow over northern hills and some freezing rain over higher ground in Scotland and northern England will move in. As this moves to the east and milder air becomes dominant this will turn predominantly to rain, which along with snow melt could cause some surface water issues.

The wind strength will peak on Sunday with gusts up to 60mph in coastal north western regions before starting to ease overnight although staying breezy into the start of next week. 

Week ahead

From Monday the whole UK will be in the warmer air mass, with daytime temperatures reaching 11-12C in the south, replacing days which never got above freezing the week before. Monday will see rain showers in the north west with drier conditions in central and eastern parts.

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