Teeth-chattering temperatures are just a few days away for the UK with maps showing parts of the country could suffer a shocking -12C.It looks like it’s too early to pack away the hot water bottles just yet, as forecasts from WXCharts show an Arctic blast arriving on Wednesday April 3 next week.
Across the nation light and dark blue patches indicate very cold temperatures for many overnight, especially in northern England and Scotland.
But before next week’s icy blast the Met Office have already issued a yellow warning for rain and snow for north east Scotland including Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness.
Gardeners might want to cover up any early seedlings and some bulbs as the spring freeze could affect plants some might have put out after a relatively mild couple of weeks at the end of March.
Looking further ahead into April and the second week also seems to have more wintry conditions in store, as maps from April 9 show snow expected from the far north of Scotland all the way down to Devon and Cornwall.
Weather experts have previously said this cold weather event has been triggered by a ‘blocking’ system of weather forming over Iceland and Greenland.
The Sudden Stratospheric Warming Event means the air that usually swirls around the Arctic, the Polar Vortex, has been temporarily disrupted sending colder air south to the UK.
These events can happen every year and alter the course of the Jet Stream, the powerful air current that brings most of Britain’s wet, warm and mild weather in from the Atlantic.
For the next five days it looks like colder weather will be present over most of the UK with snow in the hills and upland areas.
Wintry showers will come into the north over the next two weeks but temperatures may start to creep up again later. Although cold spells and wintry hazards are still possible during April, significant cold spells become less likely as spring progresses.
But a long-range forecast from the BBC for April predicts “some chillier air could move back across at least the northern UK”.
Today:
Rain will spread across much of the UK this morning, but it will stay dry and cloudy in the southeast. Turning windy in southwest and eastern coasts, feeling chilly. Hill snow will start to fall in eastern Scotland this afternoon.
Tonight:
Rain and hill snow will continue in eastern Scotland tonight. Outbreaks of patchy rain will also continue across the north and west of the UK, but drier and cloudy elsewhere.
Tuesday:
Largely cloudy on Tuesday with outbreaks of showery rain for many. A few brighter spells possible in the south at times. Hill snow will gradually clear eastern Scotland. Breezy. Yellow weather warning for snow and rain in place for north east Scotland.
Outlook for Wednesday to Friday:
Breezy in the coming days with sunny spells and heavy showers. A more persistent spell of rain is likely to move north through the early hours of Thursday. Feeling chilly.
