Shivering Brits should brace for temperatures to get even colder this week as the possibility of snow inches closer.
The Met Office has warned colder air from the north will hit the UK in the coming days, bringing the possibility for wintry showers and a possible sprinkling of the white stuff for some parts of the country. A senior meteorologist has given his verdict on snowfall.
Meanwhile, a health warning has been issued about the Baltic temperatures set to hit. Parts of the North face a yellow alert from the UKHSA over the cold, with temperatures set to fall as low as -4C in parts.
David Oliver, a Met Office deputy chief meteorologist, said: “After some rain on Monday, conditions will turn mainly dry in the south for a time before a very uncertain period on Thursday and Friday for the southern half of England and Wales. The weather models are highlighting several possible solutions from very wet to mainly dry, with a mainly dry picture the most probable outcome at present.
“However, some models include the prospect of an area of low pressure developing and moving in from the south or southwest. If this solution proves to be correct, we could see an area of warmer and moisture-laden air ‘bumping’ into the cold air further north. Along the boundary of the two air masses lies a zone across southern and central Britain where snowfall could develop fairly widely.
“Snow in any affected area is unlikely to be anything more than transient and short-lived, but it could lead to small totals and some disruption over a few hours before melting.” According to weather experts, snowfall in autumn or early winter tends not to stick, especially in the South, as ground temperatures can take weeks to cool after the summer.
Temperatures so far have already plummeted far below zero after a cold snap at the weekend. The mercury was seen plunging to -7C in Shap, Cumbria, on Sunday night - colder than Europe's northernmost city of Hammerfest in Norway, which is 300 miles north of the Arctic circle.