Snow is on its way to the UK according to brand new weather maps which have turned red in anticipation. The official end of winter is approaching toward the end of March – but there’s no let up in the UK just yet when it comes to icy conditions.
New GFS charts show that there is a high chance the first installment of snow could fall by Friday as a freezing band of weather sweeps across the country – from around Fort William right up to Thurso in Scotland on Friday, March 1.
On the same day snow is also predicted to grip areas in and around Manchester in England right the way down to the southern and south-western coast including Plymouth and Bournemouth.
And longer range forecasts show wintry showers are set to make another appearance the following weekend too – on Saturday, March 9 in similar areas and particularly on high ground.
To coincide with a blast back to winter, temperatures will tumble on the same day, with maps predicting a drop to -4C in Scotland and more central areas of England along the Pennines to around Leeds.
Weather expert Jim Dale, a senior meteorologist for British Weather Services, said that anyone hoping for spring-like weather should lower their expectations.
He said: “A very mixed up and down week to come, culminating in a wintry/icy weekend with snow for large parts of Scotland and some for the higher ground of northern England and north Wales. It won’t however last long – with more rain quickly replacing the wintry plunge.
“The current expectation is for March to unfold to the halfway point as being cold and very changeable, but with the wintry weather snaps tending to be short lived.”
He added: “No real lasting sign of anything overtly spring-like.”
Meanwhile advice from the Met Office warned a “greater than normal chance” of cold temperatures would be felt in the final days of winter.
In a report by Express.co.uk, yesterday, the long-range forecast from March 9 to 29 reads: “Towards mid-March there is an increased chance of a greater likelihood of higher pressure as a ‘blocked’ pattern becoming established over Greenland and Iceland, with lower pressure towards the south and southwest.
“This is likely to bring a trend towards increasingly settled conditions, with the likelihood of drier than normal conditions, especially in the north. This may lead to a slightly greater than normal chance of colder than average temperatures, although this is mitigated as we move further into spring.”
