A blanket of snow could cover a huge stretch of the country from the northern Highlands down to London in the south east before January is out, in a last-minute blast of chilly winter weather.
2025 has got off to a cold and icy start across all of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, causing travel chaos and school closures – and while milder temperatures are forecast for this week, the bad weather isn’t completely behind us yet.
Weather maps from WXCharts show a 590-mile stretch of snow falling across the UK from northern Scotland to south eastern England on Friday, January 24 after moving in from the Atlantic coast.
The cold blast will begin setting in at around 6pm on January 24, with snow falling thick and fast across most of Scotland and a sliver of northern and southern England, from Newcastle down to Southampton.
By 6am on January 25, Inverness and Aberdeen in Scotland are forecast to record snow depths of around 1cm, with up to 3cm falling in central regions every hour.
After a brief respite from subzero temperatures, the mercury is also expected to drop to lows of -3C around Cardiff in Wales and -1C in the Midlands as snow and ice coats large swathes of the country.
While south eastern cities including London, Bristol and Oxford are forecast to record snow depths of up to 1cm on January 25, the long arm of snow won’t stretch across the entirety of the country for long, with blizzards expected to hover over the East Midlands and Yorkshire as the weekend continues.
Meanwhile, stormy winds and rain will usher snowfall away from the south eastern coast, with turbulent Atlantic weather extending across the channel to the French coast.
Snow will continue to accumulate in other parts of the country, however, with depths of up to 12cm around Dundee and Perth and a maximum of 5cm gathering in north eastern England.
The Met Office’s long-range weather forecast from January 18 to 27 warns of low pressure moving across the country, increasing the likelihood of “rain, showers and windier conditions” for “most if not all parts”.
The potential return to below average seasonal temperatures at the end of the month follows weeks of decisively wintry weather so far this year, with frosty, snow-covered and flooded landscapes making for picturesque views and disrupting journeys.
The rural town of Altnaharra in Scotland recorded the UK’s coldest January temperature in 15 years last week, with the mercury plunging to -18.9C overnight – worlds apart from the country’s average winter low of around 0.3C.
Over 30 flood alerts also remain in place across England and Scotland as gradually easing temperatures spark fears of flooding from thawed ice.
Met Office spokesperson Andrea Bishop said: “There’s a north-south divide this week, with temperatures significantly milder across the north, with a more gradual recovery in the south.
“This will bring some thawing of lying snow in the north and some rain, while it will largely be drier in the south. Northern and western areas see more in way of rain and drizzle this week, but for many of us, it should be a more settled week than of late.”
Today:
Dry and cloudy for most of the country, with some patchy rain in England and Wales. Hill fog and sunshine expected in eastern Scotland and north east England. Milder temperatures across the UK but breezier in the north.
Tonight:
Cloudy with patchy rain for most. Winds continuing in the north, with clouds breaking and some frost and fog forming in Scotland, northeast England and Cornwall.
Wednesday:
A grey and cloudy day for those in central and southern England will rain and hill fog. Further drizzle across north and north west Scotland.
Outlook for Thursday to Saturday:
Windy and rainy in the north west with clouds, hill fog and patchy drizzle expected in southern England and Wales. Some brighter weather elsewhere, with temperatures rising in the north and staying low in the south.
