Weather forecasting maps show snowy patches in multiple parts of the country including London on Friday – the Met Office has said some areas will see frequent showers which will turn to snow
Several parts of the UK look set to see snow this week, according to new maps.
Cities including London, Birmingham, Plymouth, Stoke-on-Trent, Swansea, Belfast and Glasgow, along with their surrounding areas, could see snow or ice on Friday, the ECMWF weather model suggests.
Maps show large parts of Scotland will be blanketed with snow overnight on Friday, with the most fresh snow expected on the Western Isles and Highlands. The maps also show extensive purple shading over parts of Northern Ireland, with accumulations expected in County Antrim, including Belfast, County Tyrone and Londonderry by 9am on Friday.
In England, snow is expected to fall over the Pennines and the Lake District overnight before expanding to areas further south. People in parts of London, west Cornwall, north Devon and the outskirts of Bristol could see snow. By the afternoon, the snow is expected to have cleared in these areas, with exception for south-west England.
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Areas in central England, including Lincolnshire and Staffordshire could see snowfall in the afternoon, as well as parts of Wales, including Swansea. In the evening, snow is expected to continue falling over large parts of Scotland, North West England.
The Met Office has warned that Friday will be “considerably colder” than previous days, with snow expected in multiple parts of the country, especially the Northwest of England. Annie Shuttleworth, a meteorologist with the national weather service, said in a forecast posted on YouTube: “Quite a notable change in the air mass on Thursday night into Friday will bring a very different feel to the weather by the end of the week. It will be considerably colder to start the day [Friday]. We are expecting a patchy frost particularly in sheltered areas. Sheltered because the winds will be quite strong on Friday as well.
“Now, the rain will continue to move in from the north and west. So, it’s northwestern areas that will see frequent showers, some of these falling as snow to around 200 meters. That’s relatively low for the time of year, but also a mix of hail in there as well. That brings a risk of ice too through Friday morning as well as into Saturday morning.”
Weather maps issued by the Met Office show a messy outlook on Friday, with white hues across the country, including across the Northwest of England, north Wales and parts of Scotland, and a blue hue covering other parts, such as the Southwest of England.
Ms Shuttleworth added: “Wherever you are, it’s going to be feeling chilly quite widely. We’ll just be in those single figures by day… Now, the general theme remains unsettled into the weekend.”
In its long-range forecast for March 14 to March 23, the Met Office said conditions during this period will be “mostly changeable”, with Atlantic frontal systems passing close to or across the UK at times. This will bring spells of rain, particularly in the west and northwest, potentially accompanied by strong winds.
But drier interludes are expected, especially in the south and east. Temperatures will be near average for the period as a whole, but with some shorter-duration colder interludes at times when frost and hill snow will be possible.