Brace yourself: All parts of the country could be blanketed in snow this weekend
Weeks of mild weather will be replaced with freezing temperatures and icy winds
Thursday 10 January 2013
Related articles
All parts of Britain could be blanketed in snow this weekend, as a rare weather event sweeps the country leaving temperatures as low as -15C.
Forecasters are warning that a rare change in the upper atmosphere known as Sudden Stratospheric Warming will leave every part of the UK at risk of snow.
Dan Williams, a spokesman for the Met Office, said: “It would be fair to say that nobody should be surprised to see sleet or snow over the weekend and into the next week.”
“We have got warm air trying to push in from the west and colder air pushing from the east and north east and there is a bit of a war into which will gain supremacy over the UK…With that combination there is the possibility that we could see some snow across any part of the country on Saturday and Sunday,” he added.
The news comes a day after forecasters predicted parts of Britain could see temperatures drop as low as -15C next week, as a cold front which will last until February sweeps the country.
Weeks of mild weather, which has led to spring flowers blooming early in many parts of the country, will be replaced with freezing temperatures and icy winds that could even bring snow.
Clear skies and sunshine will precede a widespread frost later this week, with temperatures plunging further over the weekend as warm southerly winds give way to icy blasts from the north east.
A Met Office forecaster told the Daily Mail: “It does look like it's going to get colder. There's the scenario where we will get winds coming in from the North East that will cause colder weather. Usually that means we'll see snow flurries as well.”
Forecasters say the temperature could plunge to -15C in parts of the north by next week.
2013 got off to a mild start with above average temperatures often hitting the double figures. At night temperatures have been holding up at 6-8C – far warmer than the 0C typical at this time of year.
The mild spell saw unseasonably high temperatures over the holiday period, with 14.3C in Wester Ross, Scotland, last Wednesday and 12.8C in Usk, Monmouthshire on Thursday.
Tom Tobler, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, said: 'It will be freezing in some areas this week but could get slightly colder if the skies are clearer than forecast.
'This would be a return to more typical January temperatures than the milder weather we've been having. There is the potential next week for some colder weather.
-
That's some guestlist! Stunning images show huge dynastic wedding between Ultra-Orthodox Jewish families which attracted 25,000 guests
-
Breaking: Soldier killed in Woolwich machete attack named as Drummer Lee Rigby
-
'Sickening, deluded and unforgivable': Horrific attack brings terror to London’s streets
-
World news in pictures
-
Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, the mother-of-two hailed as a hero for confronting Woolwich attackers, thought: 'better me than a child'
- 1 Breaking: Soldier killed in Woolwich machete attack named as Drummer Lee Rigby
- 2 'Sickening, deluded and unforgivable': Horrific attack brings terror to London’s streets
- 3 Grace Dent: I’m not sure how these people can avoid being called ‘bigots’. And the more ‘civilised’, the worse they are
- 4 Woolwich murder: They killed, then they performed - these men should be starved of our attention
- 5 Woolwich attack: The EDL will seek to exploit this evil crime for their own evil ends
Get your summer started with British Military Fitness
BMF is the UK’s biggest and best loved outdoor fitness classes
Visit York
Find out what The Independent's resident travel expert has to say about one of the most beautiful small cities in the world
Making reading fun for kids
Nook is donating eReaders to volunteers at high-need schools and participating in exclusive events throughout the campaign.
Introducing the 'Get Reading' campaign
Get the latest on The Evening Standard's campaign to get London's children reading.
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Independent Dating
Day In a Page
Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them
Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness
Not secure any more: G4S boss heads for exit at last
How to say ‘I’m a sellout’





