The Met Office has issued yellow warnings for snow and ice across most of Scotland and northern England as Arctic air moves into the UK. The warnings take effect Thursday afternoon and remain in place until Friday midday, with forecasters predicting up to 10cm of snow in some localized areas and potential travel disruption.
The snow and ice warnings cover all of Scotland except westerly parts of the Hebrides and Argyll and Bute. In England, affected regions include the North East, North West, parts of the Midlands, and Yorkshire and Humber. Scotland's warning begins at 4pm Thursday, while northern England's starts at 7pm Thursday.
Low-lying areas in Scotland can expect 1-2cm of snow by Friday morning. Hills above 300 metres could see 2-5cm, with up to 10cm "very locally" in some spots. In England, areas above 200 metres are forecast to receive 2-5cm, with a few locations above 300 metres potentially seeing up to 10cm.
Arctic air mass drives cold snap
Grahame Madge, Met Office spokesman, explained the weather system. «Currently we've got warnings out for parts of Scotland, particularly the east and parts of the south-west west of Glasgow. Those are rain warnings, but increasingly, there will be a bit of snow mixed in with those as the conditions start to cool,» he said.
The incoming Arctic maritime air will push temperatures down significantly. «Over the next few days, and beginning in northern Scotland really from today, we'll start to see an incursion of an air mass called Arctic maritime air, and that will bring temperatures down,» Madge said. The cold air will extend southward from Scotland into northern England, possibly reaching further south by the weekend.
Madge noted the impact will be limited in duration. «We're not expecting any particularly impactful snow and the conditions will be quite brief before we get another system coming in from the Atlantic over the weekend, but for the next few days, it will feel quite a bit different, as we've got colder air coming in,» he said.
Health alerts and flooding risks
The UK Health Security Agency has issued a yellow cold health alert for the East Midlands, West Midlands, North East, North West, Yorkshire and The Humber. Temperatures are expected to fall quickly early Friday as skies clear, creating ice on untreated surfaces.
Separate rain warnings remain in effect for eastern and western parts of Scotland until midnight Wednesday. Eastern Scotland could see 15-25mm of rainfall widely, with high ground potentially receiving another 30-40mm. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has issued three flood warnings and seven flood alerts.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
