Britain has been warned to brace itself for thunder, and snow in some places, with spectacular maps showing a band of stormy weather approaching which stretches 900 miles, from the tip of Scotland to the south coast of England.
And one weather expert is predicting “severe” gale-force winds for those living north of the border.
One map, shared by the WX Charts website, suggests large areas of the Highlands and including Inverness, and the Grampians, as well as some parts of Northern Ireland, could see snows of up to an inch an hour on March 29.
The following day, a separate weather map suggests the whole of Britain will get a soaking, with rains of up to four inches an hour in some parts of the north – although the island of Ireland appears likely to be spared.
A third map shows rains of up to four inches an hour in northern Scotland, also on March 30.
March traditionally comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb – but with large parts of the nation currently enjoying a mild spell, Jim Dale, the founder and Senior Weather Consultant at British Weather Services, suggested 2024 was likely to be the exception.
He told Express.co.uk: “There’s a taster of spring in the next few days, but it won’t last.”
Mr Dale explained: “We remain the mixer until the end of the month.
“By that I mean rain or showers on occasions, the north and west taking the lion’s share, south and east notably drier.”
He continued: “Storm wise; there’s a robust system moving in to the north of Scotland on Saturday – severe gale force winds into north and north-east Scotland for a time.”
Mr Dale acknowledged the possibility of rain lashing the entire nation, saying: “Some early suggestion of a nationwide storm to end the month but that’s too far away yet to be in any way certain.
“The bottom line is we are not out of the woods yet for wet, flooding and potentially stormy weather.
“We are having to be very patient for anything settled and warm for more than just a couple of days.”
As for snow, Mr Dale added: “That will be the case – Grampians too, likely more so.
“The mountains of Scotland will struggle to step into spring during the remainder of this month.”
The Met Office’s latest long range forecast, which runs up until March 31, predicts cloudy weather across the far south at first on Friday, with some patchy light rain and drizzle clearing southwards early in the day, and elsewhere a mixture of clear or sunny spells at times.
It continues: “The showers will be heavy at times with a risk of thunder, and most frequent across the north and northwest.
“Through the weekend, northwesterly winds will bring a mixture of sunny spells and showers, some of these heavy.
“A drier spell may develop later in the weekend with temperatures likely to be below normal for many areas.
“Into the following week, more unsettled conditions will probably develop across parts of the UK, these most likely to affect southern areas.
“Northern areas are more likely to be dry but also colder.”
