Brits are bracing for buckets of rain and snow later this month, as new weather maps show ominous purple and orange masses looming over the country.
Forecast data collected by wxcharts.com shows large swathes of Northern Ireland, northern England, Wales and Scotland being blanketed in purple by 12 noon on November 19, with some areas seeing what appears to be more than 1cm of snowfall per hour.
Parts of the UK affected include Belfast, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Newcastle, the maps suggest.
Rain is forecast to lash most of the rest of the country at midday, with major cities like Manchester and Birmingham under a large patch of dark orange running down the country, and expected to see around 4mm of rain per hour.
London is also set for similar amounts of rainfall, with dots of orange and yellow-level rainclouds dotted across southern England.
By 6pm areas further south are expected to see similar amounts of snow, with Newcastle, Manchester and large swathes of Wales forecast for snow in excess of around 1cm per hour in some areas.
Areas around the Highlands, Argyle and Bute, and the Western Isles are also expected to face snow of up to 1mm or more and/or heavy rain.
Parts of Scotland along the eastern coast are also forecast for snow, though it’s currently anticipated to be more around the 0.6cm per hour mark. The same is true for areas around Plymouth in the south west of England.
A large area of the south west around the city could see around 1.5mm of rain around this time, with patches of rain affecting various areas including the east coast of England, with a sizable wave of orange (indicating rainfall of up to 5mm per hour) cutting down through the northeast.
By midnight much of the downpour is expected to ease off, according to the current prediction, though heavy snow will persist in some areas, including the coast along Yorkshire and the Humber and the North East up into Scotland. Lighter snow of around 0.4-0.6 is forecast for the coasts of Norfolk and Suffolk.
Areas in the northern Scotland including Inverness will also see further heavier snow, with the white stuff also falling on the northern, western and southwestern coasts.
Northern Ireland will also continue to see snow in excess of 0.6cm per hour, with lighter snow across large parts of Wales.
Other areas will see patches of rain too, including areas around parts of Wales and parts of England near the border and the south west of England.
However, the Met Office’s long-range forecast for Sunday, November 17, through to Tuesday, November 26, suggests widespread and disruptive amounts of snow is currently unlikely.
The current forecast reads: “Turning more unsettled and significantly colder as we head into the weekend with rain or showers for most regions, the heaviest and most frequent spells of rain are most likely in the north where they are likely to turn wintry, especially to the hills of Scotland, but perhaps also to lower levels in the far north as colder air digs south.
“The chance of any widespread or disruptive snowfall affecting more populated areas at this stage however remains low.”
It adds that there is less certainty for the condition in the south, “but even here there is a chance of some more organised rain, and potentially some hill snow”.
“Often windy, with a chance of gales at times, especially in the north and east,” the government agency continues, “Temperatures falling below average and feeling particularly cold in the strong winds.”
You can find the agencies latest forecasts for your area here.
