Met Office weather warnings EXTENDED as snow and freezing fog to hit whole of UK today
BBC Weather: Carol Kirwood warns of ice and further snow
The Met Office has warned icy stretches could lead to disruption across vast swathes of the UK today, with some snow also expected as temperatures plummet. The forecaster warned the mercury could plunge to 0C to 10C in London, with just 2C to 5C for much of the rest of the UK today. The new weather warnings come as a band of rain swept in from Scotland and Northern Ireland in the early hours of this morning before travelling south to England and Wales.
The Met Office weather warning says: “Showers, a mixture of rain sleet and snow, are expected to fall onto frozen surfaces leading to icy stretches forming.
“In addition, a more persistent spell of rain and hill snow is likely to move south across northern England and north Wales during Thursday evening and night.
“This then gradually moving into parts of central and southwest England and southeast Wales on Friday. Whilst ice is expected to be the most widespread hazard, snow is likely in places too.
“Snow is most likely to fall over The Pennines, North York Moors and the high ground of Wales and southwest England, with 2-5 cm possible here.
“Elsewhere, whilst some snowfall is possible, accumulations are likely to be slight and temporary.
“Freezing fog patches are also likely to persist and may prove an additional hazard with areas of visibility less than 100 m at times.”
READ MORE: BBC Weather: Carol Kirkwood issues ‘ice warning’ as snow rocks Britain
The forecaster said it had updated its existing weather warnings which were in place today “to make this a dual snow/ice warning with the area extended southwards across more of central and southwest England. The warning end time has also been delayed until the end of Friday.”
The yellow warning ow snow and ice is in place from 5pm today to 11.59pm on Friday.
A second snow warning for Scotland remains in place until 11.59pm tonight, having started at 3pm on Wednesday, January 6.
The warning, which covers the whole of Scotland, says: “Rain is more likely around some coasts, and snow may also turn to rain at low levels inland before clearing to leave a risk of ice on untreated surfaces on Thursday morning.
“Following the clearance of the rain, sleet and snow on Thursday morning, much of inland Scotland will be dry for most of the day.”
The alert adds: “However, snow showers will then follow into northern Scotland on Thursday, especially during the afternoon and evening.
“A further 2 to 5cm is likely at low levels with around 10cm accumulating above 200 metres. This warning will likely be updated on Thursday.”
Come Friday, much of Scotland has been removed from the MEt Office alert with just the East Coast and islands remaining under the extended weather warning.
And by Friday night, weather maps from WXCharts show the whole of the UK could have seen some snow, apart from an area of the south east of England.
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Met Office meteorologist Clare Nasir said: “Watch out for some freezing fog patches (and) the risk of ice first thing.
“However, through the morning, we will see some brighter skies for southern parts of England and Wales.”
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