UK weather: Freezing arctic blast threat - here’s what the Met Office is forecasting for the rest of January
Is a “freezing arctic blast” on the way? The Met Office is predicting conditions which could see the return of snow in January.
It’s been a rather damp and foggy week for much of the UK but plunging temperatures and even snow are just over the horizon. The Met Office is forecasting an “increased chance that conditions will turn colder” saying some aspects of the forecast also “increases the chance of snow”.
After a very wet few days for some, rain and strong winds in the southeast are set to clear eastwards from England on Thursday night (January 15), leaving clear spells across most of the UK but some showers in the west. It’s likely to be chillier in Scotland though with “frost and fog developing with icy stretches”.
More of the same for Friday (January 16) when early frost and fog will clear, with sunshine and showers in its wake. The west and southwest will see the worst of the weather suffering the heaviest and most frequent showers and hail and thunder also possible.
The weekend is a similar picture with a “changeable few days” expected, bringing with it a mixture of bright or clear spells and showery outbreaks of rain. The overnight frost and fog patches will continue in places too, with fog potentially freezing and slow to clear.
January snow forecast
The Met Office has warned from next week there will be a “battle between Atlantic weather systems attempting to arrive from the west while high pressure and colder conditions attempt to exert some influence from the east”. The national weather service expects the milder Atlantic air to dominate initially.
This means more of the cloudy, changeable conditions with “showers or longer spells of rain for most”. The wettest weather will be in western parts of the country, drier for those in the east, with temperatures overall likely to be around average.
However, looking ahead to the end of the month and there is “an increased chance that conditions will turn colder”. According to the Met Office, “this aspect of the forecast is still somewhat uncertain” but this potential transition to colder weather increases the chance of snow across parts of the country.
Met Office presenter Alex Burkill gave his insights into the trends for the next 10 days. Looking ahead to next week and beyond, he said: "We end up sort of in a battleground between these two features in as much as we go through next week, there are sort of going to be three set-ups, particularly towards the end.
"So as we're going through towards the weekend, the 24th, 25th of January... High pressure could stay towards the northeast but it could extend a little bit further south-westwards bringing in that colder air. As I mentioned if we get that easterly we could get some cold air pushing in across us but with the influence of the high it would actually be largely dry.
"Alternatively the low pressure winds out and it pushes its way in from the southwest and so things would be milder but also quite wet and there could be some spells of rain. Or we get a sort of combination of the two.
"We have that cold air coming in across with a bit of an easterly, and then we have the low pressure bashing against it across the UK. If that comes off, well, that could bring some particularly hazardous weather.”
It's likely to get colder, according to Alex. He said: "There's generally a downward trend when it comes to our temperatures as we go through the next week, two weeks or so. But it's not a huge drop off.”
As there are still several scenarios the weather could take, Alex said: "It's kind of either going to stay similar or a little bit colder than what we currently have, or it could potentially get quite a bit colder."