Gales and heavy rain to follow snow and ice
The weather has taken the UK on a bit of a rollercoaster ride during the last week, with heavy rain and severe gales, interspersed with snow and ice.
This theme is set to continue during the next few days, as we once again make the transition from snow and ice to heavy rain then back again.
Whilst the weather here is renowned for its changeable nature, the swings between conditions have significant, courtesy of a powerful jet stream and deep areas of low pressure.
Snow and ice
As forecast, some northern and western parts of the UK woke up to a covering of snow this morning – mainly over the hills and mountains, but locally down to low levels in Northern Ireland and Scotland.
The heaviest snow overnight has been in the Scottish Highlands, with Tulloch Bridge having 32cm of snow on the ground this morning, and Aviemore close behind with 31cm.
#UKSnow in Aviemore taken by @ScotRoutes. Tulloch bridge in Inverness-shire recorded a snow depth of 32 cms pic.twitter.com/AaTTlJdUSA
— Met Office (@metoffice) January 14, 2015
Northern Ireland and the valleys of south Wales also had a covering of a few centimetres, with ice giving a tricky morning commute.
How to make the Welsh valleys even more beautiful? Snow!!! pic.twitter.com/FuHPamghGY
— Caroline Johnson (@MrsJToday) January 14, 2015
Gales and heavy rain into Thursday
As quickly as the cold, wintry weather came, it’ll soon be gone for a time, with another storm set to pass just to the north west of the UK through tonight and tomorrow.
Once again, the main feature will be gale or severe gale-force winds, with the potential for some disruption to travel and power supplies.
The Met Office has issued a yellow “be prepared” warning for gusts of wind widely reaching 50-65mph across much of the UK, with coasts and hills in the south and west reaching 75mph.
As well as the very strong winds, there’ll be heavy rain sweeping eastwards across all areas, with more snow falling over the mountains of Scotland.
With the ground saturated from the wet weather we’ve had so far this month, the Environment Agency and Scottish Environment Protection Agency say that there’s a low risk of localised flooding.
They also warn that coastal areas in the south and west will see large waves as severe gales over the sea push water onshore.
Cold weather then returns
Once the storm moves through, colder air will once again sweep southwards across the UK through Thursday into Friday.
This will bring a return to colder weather for all of us with wintry showers, frost and ice – something that is likely to persist throughout next week.
Whilst the vicious storms will cease, there will be areas of low pressure drifting around in cold air, which gives the potential for some snow.
However, at the moment, the detail on snow this far ahead is very uncertain, so stay tuned!
Don’t forget, you can get the latest forecast on the Channel 4 Weather website. You can also send me your weather pictures on Twitter – @liamdutton