Politics
Snow In The UK: Where And When Could It Fall?
January was the month of many storms (Goretti feels like it happened a year ago, but hey). Then came the long, wet February, which saw incessant rain across the UK.
“Blood rain” aside, March so far has provided a brief sunny respite. But in this year’s signature whiplash fashion, some parts of the UK might see snow this week, the BBC said.
When might it snow?
The Met Office said “wintry” conditions will begin to affect parts of the UK this Thursday to Saturday (12-14 March).
It comes with “unsettled,” windy conditions.
Friday is expected to be the coldest day.
And the crisp spell will likely wrap up by the end of the week.
Why are the conditions changing so quickly?
The jet stream is “ramping up”, the BBC reports, bringing with it a series of increasingly cold and wet weather fronts.
The conditions are expected to be very windy, which could prevent overnight frost from forming, but during lulls, some especially “prone” areas could dip below freezing.
Where might snow fall?
Because strong winds are expected to bring sleet and cold showers to the North of the UK (including in Scotland, where gales are predicted later in the week), snow might fall on high ground in the North, though it’s not expected to settle.
And hailstorms are possible across the country, even in the south.
Why is it so hard to predict snow in the UK?
It’s hard to say for sure whether this week’s weather conditions will definitely lead to snow.
It’s generally hard to tell when snow will fall in the UK.
The wind that blows in cold air and the wind that blows in wet air come from different directions, meaning very chilly precipitation, which is needed for snow, is a relatively rare occurrence.
Even when it does happen, “A lot of the rain that we see in the UK, at all times of year, was snow when it started falling, but has fallen into air that is warmer than 0⁰C and melted,” the University of Reading wrote.