Met Office warns of 'something completely different' when Arctic winds blast UK

09 January 2024 , 13:09

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Met Office warns of 'something completely different' when Arctic winds blast UK

Brits have been warned to expect "something completely different" this week before Artic winds cause a plunge in temperatures.

Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern has announced parts of the UK will experience high pressure, which tends to lead to settled weather conditions. He told the welcome news as part of the week ahead forecast but stressed people will freeze even more from next week.

It comes after parts of the UK were battered in snow on Monday, with areas as far as the south and parts of London and the South East, experiencing snow. A yellow warning for ice was also issued across southern England and South Wales, which was in place until 3am today ( January 9 ).

McGivern cited the frosty conditions for today and said there is cold air in place and "perhaps a centimetre or so of snow in one or two spots to the South and Southwest." He further highlighted how temperatures will be a mere -1C or -2C and said there could be some "snow showers" in the far south of Devon and Southwest of Cornwall. But otherwise, there will be "plenty of sunshine."

Brits might experience milder conditions this week (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)

Speaking about a swift change in weather again, he explained what people can expect over the next few days. "It's time for something completely different having droned on about low pressure for what seems like months on end we're now talking about high pressure and that high pressure is here to stay for at least a week," he said.

Gales, snow and rain to batter country today with 80mph wind gusts

"It's currently sitting in the North Sea. It will slowly meander across the UK over the next few days moving across Northern parts and then later in the week sinking South into Ireland. All the while, the wind direction will change slightly and that will have a impact on temperatures and whether we get rain or snow. But there won't be much rain or snow because high pressure will generally be keeping things settled that is until the end of the week."

The conditions will get colder again from the weekend (Met office)

McGivern went on to say there will be a "deepening area of low pressure moving into Scandinavia" which will spark the return of "colder conditions" from the weekend. However, he said for now, Brits will get to experience some "milder air". He added: "We've seen snow falling in many parts of the South and Southeast through Monday afternoon. Now over the next few days, we'll actually see some milder air going around the top of that high pressure and come in from the Northeast."

However, McGivern added: "The weather front is going to progress southwards across the country as we begin the weekend opening the door to Arctic winds and those winds bringing a return into air that will be cold enough for snow. At first, we'll see rain, sleet and snow showers coming in from the north but eventually, the cold air pushes across all parts of the country by the end of the weekend and into the start of next week. [ There ] could be snow around but it's too early to give details on that."

Monica Charsley