The latest weather buzz

Weather updates from site founder Brian Gaze that keep you in the know.

Snow soon in places

Posted Sat 26th January 2019 18:30

Colder air returns southwards during the next 24 hours and wintry showers affect parts of the UK. That sets the theme for the coming days and there is expected to be a risk of disruptive snowfall.

Wintry week ahead

The forecast details for next week are uncertain but the general theme is for cold conditions to dominate for much of the time. Snow could fall anywhere but it is most likely in the north and over high ground.

Wintry showers probably continue through Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. At times they could become heavy and frequent, and there is the potential for more prolonged periods of rain or snow.

A low pressure looks set to track south of the UK towards the Bay of Biscay on Tuesday. It brings the potential for some outbreaks of sleet or snow in southern counties but there is a chance of everything remaining to our south. The Arpege precipitation type chart below is for 07:00 GMT on Wednesday. However there isn't cross model agreement on the details yet, so don't take the snow cast literally.

Less cold later?

During Thursday and Friday a deep area of low pressure approaches from the west. Weather fronts associated with it push up from the southwest and they bring the potential for heavy rain, sleet and snow. At this stage snow looks most likely in areas north of the M4 corridor, but again it's a very uncertain picture.

There is a suggestion that the low pressure system will end-up sitting over the UK. If that is the outcome milder air will probably get into the mix and turn the precipitation back to rain or sleet in southern and central regions.

TL;DR

Much of the coming week will be cold. There is the likelihood of snow but parameters in the south will probably be very marginal. Towards next weekend it could begin to turn milder as a low pressure system sits close to the UK.

PS: The GEFS snow row league is a new feature on the site. It provides a summary and detailed view of the latest snow row tallies and it gives you the chance to plot the archive. It's a great new feature for helping to determine the risk of snow suggested by the GEFS ensemble model.

Model inventory