UK weather: snow showers forecast in parts as temperatures drop

Snow is likely to fall on parts of the UK this week, the Met Office has said. Snow showers are expected on the North Sea coast, including in Scotland and the north-east of England, from Wednesday and heading into the weekend.

However, what falls from the sky may not necessarily lie on the ground. “There will be snow showers but we are not likely to see significant accumulation on the ground,” said the Met Office’s Oli Claydon.

The rest of the UK will see frosty weather from Tuesday, with temperatures forecast to dip as low as -8C (17.6F) in sheltered hills and glens in Scotland. Parts of rural eastern England could see temperatures as low as -5C.

“We could see some snow moving into south-eastern parts of the UK towards the end of the week, including Hampshire. However, it may also remain dry,” Claydon said. He advised the public to check the weather before travelling.

Rain showers are forecast across the north and east on Monday night. On Tuesday there will be sunny spells for many, with showers mainly in coastal areas, the Met Office said.

The weather is then expected to become more unsettled, with wintry showers in northern parts of the UK and some rain in the south.

Forecasters said that on Monday there would be “bands of rain, heavy at times, across Wales and south-west England, clearing southwards. Brighter skies following from the north but showers and hill snow affecting parts of Scotland and north-east England where it will also be windy.”

In the evening they said there would be “showers continuing across the north and east, but largely dry elsewhere with clear spells. Turning cold under the clear skies with a frost developing, mainly in the north.”

On Tuesday, they predicted “sunny spells for many but showers in places, mainly near coasts but potentially moving inland at times, with some snow over high ground in the north. Feeling cold.”

Over the weekend just gone, temperatures dropped below freezing in parts of the country overnight. Parts of Scotland saw -5C in the early hours of Sunday morning, and in many areas of northern England and Wales the overnight temperatures were at or close to zero.

On Saturday a “lunar halo” – caused by the refraction of moonlight from ice crystals in the upper atmosphere – was spotted from Staffordshire, the West Midlands, Surrey, Berkshire, Dorset, Yorkshire and the Isle of Wight.