UK weather: Britain could see first snow of 2019 as temperatures plummet

Bookmakers slash odds on coldest winter on record as freezing weather looms

Britain could see its first snowfall of the year this week as temperatures plunge as low as -7C, forecasters have said.

Bookmakers have slashed odds on this winter being the coldest on record as freezing weather looms following a warmer than average Christmas.

Snow is set to fall on hills in the north towards the end of the week and is also possible on lower ground, according to the Met Office.

Forecaster Aidan McGivern said clear skies would mean temperatures drop as low as -5C to -7C in “sheltered spots” of western England, Wales and central Scotland on Thursday.

Temperatures are likely to remain above freezing elsewhere in the UK, where there will be more cloud cover. But there will be “extensive fog and a fairly widespread frost” around the country as the clouds disappear over Thursday night and Friday morning, Mr McGivern added.

Councils in many parts of the UK were deploying gritters to treat roads, including in Wigan, where temperatures were expected to drop to -4C.

“If you are travelling please be aware of potential ice patches,” Wigan Council warned drivers on Twitter.

The Met Office said there was an increased chance of “much colder weather generally” towards the end of January, bringing “an enhanced risk of frost, fog and snow” and raising the prospect of a cold snap akin to last year’s “beast from the east”.

A weather system from Siberia brought parts of UK to a virtual standstill in late February and early March 2018, as heavy snow and extremely cold temperatures caused severe travel disruption and left 17 people dead.

But the Met Office said a similar cold spell this month was “by no means certain”, adding that “some milder, wet and windy interludes are likely during this period”.

The bookmaker Coral is offering odds of 1/2 that this winter will be the UK’s coldest on record, as well as 4/6 odds on snow falling in any major city in the country this week.

Much of the UK enjoyed unseasonably warm highs of 11C or 12C at the end of the 2018.