UK hit by freezing winter blizzard: What is a polar airstream?

UK weather: Snow to hit north of England and Scotland

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During the last fortnight four named storms have battered the British Isles, through a combination of gale force winds, heavy snow showers, and lightning. The weather systems have created widespread damage and disruption, with further snow showers due to fall before we reach the weekend.

Earlier on Thursday evening, two yellow weather alerts came into effect across northern parts of the UK.

Issued by the Met Office, the warnings both started at 8pm and will remain in place until the early hours of Friday morning.

An ice warning for much of Northern Ireland will end first at 9am, while a snow and ice caution across most of Scotland, as well as northern England finishes half an hour later.

The forecaster said: “Further wintry showers, with snowfall mainly on hills, will lead to icy surfaces, perhaps making for difficult travel conditions tonight.”

Snow showers reaching up to 30cm deep are expected to fall across higher ground areas, such as the Scottish Highlands and Pennines in northern England.

Areas covered by the snow and ice warning include:

• Central, Tayside and Fife
• East Midlands
• Grampian
• Highlands and Eilean Siar
• North East England
• North West England
• SW Scotland, Lothian Borders
• Strathclyde
• Yorkshire and Humber

The conditions have been created because of a ‘polar airstream’ that’s moved an air mass from the arctic to the UK.

Known as the ‘Arctic maritime’, the mass brings air that is very cold and less moist, which allows for hail showers and snow.

These types of conditions are most frequent over Scotland and along the coasts exposed to northerly winds.

An arctic maritime air mass has its origins over the North Pole and the Arctic Ocean.

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Polar low-pressure systems forming in this air mass can sometimes lead to widespread and heavy snowfall, but otherwise inland areas remain free of cloud in the winter months.

In northern Scotland, arctic maritime is usually the coldest air mass, but over the rest of Britain, this air mass is not as cold as polar continental.

Along with snow, Netweather forecasters have warned the UK could also see some thunder, lightning and hail.

It said: “A cold and showery polar airstream has moved in from the west across many areas overnight behind a cold front clearing SE England at breakfast time.”

Earlier on Thursday, snow was reported in Cornwall with sightings made from Saltash to St Austell to the Royal Cornwall Hospital at Treliske, Truro.

The flurries lasted for a matter of minutes, but helped to demonstrate how far-ranging the conditions created by Storm Gladys stretched for.

Gladys is now the seventh named storm of the 2021/22 weather season.

In 2022 alone the UK has also witnessed storms Corrie, Dudley, Eunice and Franklin.

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