The UK could be blanketed in snow this week as new weather data shows wintery conditions over large parts of the UK. After a weekend that has seen much of the UK bathed in rare sunshine, weather conditions this week look set to herald the return of adverse weather. According to experts WXCharts.com, large parts of the UK could be hit by snow for up to 12 hours, with other areas expecting rain and freezing temperatures.
Scotland and northern England will be worst hit, but areas of Wales and southern England will also be impacted. A Met Office forecast for Monday to Wednesday said: “Rain spreads southwards through Monday, marking a change to colder, cloudier conditions for the new week. Occasional sunny spells on Tuesday and Wednesday, mixed with a few wintry showers.”
The weather data shows snow making landfall in northern Scotland in the early hours of Wednesday. Heavy concentrations hit Inverness and Edinburgh before making their way further south.
By daybreak, snow will pass over the Scottish capital and congregate over Newcastle and Northumbria, providing a wintery welcome on Wednesday morning.
By midday, snow will be seen across Yorkshire and Lancashire with spots over parts of Wales, with Cardiff likely to be worst affected but southernmost Plymouth also hit by the weather front.
The east coast of the country could avoid snow despite previous data suggesting it could be among the worst-hit areas.
Instead, Hull, Kent, Essex and London will be hit with showers, with between 5 and 10mm per hour expected to fall throughout the afternoon.
The cold weather on Wednesday could be part of a wider band of wintery conditions set in the UK as a “stratospheric” weather event prepares to grip the northern hemisphere.
The stratospheric weather event could see a warming event develop over the next two weeks, “leading to a collapse of the polar vortex,” according to a weather expert.
Daniel Adamson of MetDesk told the Guardian: “This will be the second and probably final disruption of the polar vortex this winter in the northern hemisphere, the first having taken place earlier last month, which was associated with a severe cold spell across much of the eastern half of the US. The next stratospheric event looks stronger than the previous one and will probably weaken the jet stream pattern.
“This may allow a release of cold air from the polar regions to move southwards into North America or Eurasia, in turn increasing the risk of significant snow for some regions.”