New weather maps show a nearly 800-mile sheet of rain and snow is heading for the UK. WXCharts has forecast that the downpour will last through the day on New Year’s Eve – and well into the evening – according to weather maps which have turned red and purple, characterising heavy rain and snowfall.
The maps show a band of rain and snow around 790-miles long moving northeast from Cornwall over the UK. There will be heavy rain in the south and east of England including Kent, Norfolk, Cornwall, Nottinghamshire and Shropshire as well as Northern Ireland.
Heavy snow is predicted for the west coast of England including Manchester, Leeds and the Lake District, Galloway Forest Park in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The Met Office has forecasted strong winds and cold conditions over New Year’s Eve and the following day. There will be some showers with brighter interludes.
Temperatures will be between 7C and 10C in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and south Scotland. It will be colder in north Scotland, with temperatures between 0C and 2C.
It comes as the Met Office issued an urgent warning, with the UK set to be engulfed by a violent storm from Scotland to Cornwall.
They range from snow and ice to rain and gale force winds. The first is in place from midnight, with alerts in place until 6am on Thursday, December 28. Storm Gerrit has been officially named by the Met Office and is due to hit the UK from Wednesday.
Headline:
Storm Gerrit arrives overnight.
This Evening and Tonight:
A clear start to the night across the north and east. Turning windy with cloud and outbreaks of locally heavy rain spreading to all but northern Scotland by dawn as Storm Gerrit approaches the UK.
Wednesday:
Further outbreaks of rain spreading northwards, the rain falling as snow above 200 meters across Scotland. Clearer conditions with showers arriving from the south later. Windy, with coastal gales.
Outlook for Thursday to Saturday:
Brighter and showery on Thursday and Friday, though windy, especially in the south. Further hill snow in north. Spell of wet and windy weather moving east on Saturday.
