Cold air versus mild air rematch
Some parts of the UK could be in for more snow later on Thursday and into Friday as the cold air and mild air once again battle it out.
This comes just five days after their last tussle, which gave many central and eastern parts of England significant snowfall last weekend. 5-10cm fell widely, with some places seeing as much as 15cm.
Despite the potential snowfall being less than 36 hours away, there is still an element of uncertainty as to how much snow there will be and exactly where it is going to fall.
The dividing line between the cold air and mild air will be a weather front, behind which any sleet or snow will turn back to rain as the temperature rises. Ahead of it though – where there remains a feed of cold air from continental Europe – snow is likely to prevail.
The latest weather computer model favours central southern England, the Midlands, north east England and the Home Counties for snow during Thursday evening into Friday morning. There is a chance that it could also extend into parts of East Anglia and south east England, including London.
At the moment, the amount of snow doesn’t look to be as much as last weekend, with 3-6cm, locally more. Nevertheless, some places still have snow lying on the ground and more snow will exacerbate the ice risk for Friday morning’s rush hour.
Other parts of the UK are not immune from wintry hazards. During the first part of Thursday, a wintry mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow will fall onto frozen surfaces across Scotland and parts of northern England. This will give a significant ice risk for rush hour on Thursday morning.
You may have noticed that there has been a lot of discussion in the newspapers during the past week about the prospect of cold weather and how bad it is.
The important thing to bear in mind is that it’s winter, it’s February and it’s a time of year when snowfall is to be expected.
In an average February in the UK, many low lying areas, away from the southwest, would expect to have 1-6 days of snow lying on the ground. Across the hills and mountains, this figure would rise to 6-10 days.
From a minimum temperature perspective, the lowest February temperature in the UK is -27.2C which was recorded at Braemar, Aberdeenshire in 1895. This is much, much lower than the headline grabbing -10C that has been mentioned in some places this week.
I’ll be keeping you updated with the latest information as it becomes available, with regular updates on Twitter – @liamdutton
The Channel 4 Weather website also has the latest forecast for the next five days, including the latest weather warnings from the Met Office.