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Very cold air has pushed across much of the country overnight and in the south there are patchy outbreaks of snow. This morning the cold air spreads into the south west and in the east snow showers develop. This afternoon the snow showers become increasingly heavy and they affect much of the country.

Disruptive snow is expected in parts of the south, the Midlands and northern England. Local conditions will vary a lot but accumulations of 10cm or more are possible, especially over higher ground.     

ICON 00z, precipitation type, 15:00 GMT Sat 17th March

Temperatures this afternoon will be close to 0C (32F) in central and eastern areas but a few degrees higher in the south west and Northern Ireland. A strong easterly wind will make it feel bitterly cold. See the rainfall and precipitation type radar for the latest view.

Tonight heavy snow showers bring more disruption. The worst conditions are expected in the south, the south west and Wales. Temperatures fall to around -5C (23F) quite widely.

Tomorrow more persistent outbreaks of snow are possible in the south west but at lower levels they may turn back to rain. Elsewhere there will be further snow showers but during the afternoon they probably become confined to the south east. It remains bitterly cold with afternoon temperatures close to 0C (32F).  

Change next week

Early next week high pressure slowly sink southwards across the UK. Monday will be cold and mostly dry, although wintry showers could continue near the east coast. A widespread frost develops overnight and Tuesday brings more of the same.

By Wednesday the cold air is likely to be lingering over southern and eastern counties and there could be a few wintry showers in Kent, Essex and East Anglia. North western areas will be turning milder and the risk of rain increases.

The GFS forecast chart below shows a wedge of milder air (indicated by yellow and orange shading) beginning to push in from the west by Wednesday. 

GFS 00z, 850hPa temperatures, 00:00 GMT Wed 21st March

In the longer term more changeable weather looks set to return with all areas seeing spells of rain. In the north it could remain cold enough for snow at times and there are tentative signs of it turning colder again in the run up to the Easter period.

Spring forecast

The TWO seasonal forecast covering the meteorological spring (March, April, May) has been issued. The monthly update for March is also online.

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16 day GEFS ensembles at a glance

Bitterly cold weather returns by 17th March and then temperatures gradually recover. During the last week of the month more changeable conditions are favoured. View latest GEFS.