Will it snow this week? Met Office weather forecast, where in UK will snow hit - and how much

The Met Office has warned that snow and ice will continue to cause disruption across the UK with a cold snap set to last possibly until Friday. A number of yellow weather warnings have been issued for areas in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

On Monday, Met Office senior meteorologist Alex Burkill said: “It’s fair to say it’s cold today, cold tonight, cold tomorrow and cold through much of the week really. Snow showers will continue across parts of Scotland, particularly in the north, probably seeding into Northern Ireland too.”

This is what you need to know about the weather this week.

Will it snow this week?

According to the Met Office, the UK this week will be “cold with wintry showers, especially in the north and west”.

Monday will see “rain and hill snow clearing from the far southeast”, with wintry showers following, mainly across the north but also “some windward coasts elsewhere”. It’s set to be “dry with sunny spells” for many inland areas, and cold, especially in the north.

As Monday turns to night, wintry showers will continue “across northern and northwestern coasts with some rain and hill snow in the far southwest”, while elsewhere it will be dry and clear. It will be cold with a widespread frost, which the Met Offices says will be “severe in places”.

On Tuesday, northern and western Scotland, Northern Ireland, parts of Wales and western England should be prepared for it to be “cold with wintry showers”. Elsewhere it will be dry with sunny spells.

For Wednesday to Friday, the Met Office says: “Widely cold on Wednesday and Thursday with wintry showers, especially in the north and west. Some areas dry with sunny spells. Some rain in the west later Friday, dry elsewhere.”

What weather warnings are in place?

Across Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week, a number of areas in the UK have yellow weather warnings for snow and ice.

The affected regions are:

Scotland:

• Grampian (Aberdeenshire, Moray)
• Highlights and Eilean Siar (Na h-Eileanan Siar, Highland)
• Orkney and Shetland (Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands)
• Strathclyde (Argyll and Bute)

The Met Office says: “Frequent wintry showers, mainly of snow, will feed into northern Scotland during this period. A few centimetres of snow are likely at low levels over a given 24 hour period, with the potential for 10-15 cm above 200 metres, especially across parts of the Highlands. Ice will be additional hazard, especially Tuesday night.”

North West England:

• Blackpool
• Cheshire East
• Cheshire West and Chester
• Greater Manchester
• Halton
• Lancashire
• Merseyside
• Warrington

Northern Ireland:

• County Antrim 
• County Armagh
• County Down
• County Fermanagh
• County Londonderry
• County Tyrone

Wales:

• Conwy
• Denbighshire
• Flintshire
• Gwynedd
• Isle of Anglesey
• Wrexham 

The Met Office says: “Snow showers will become more frequent through Monday, continuing to feed in on northwesterly winds overnight. Accumulations of a couple of centimetres are possible at low levels, with higher ground expected to see 5-10 cm in places. In addition, icy stretches are likely to form following showers.”

Rod Dennis, RAC spokesman, said: “After last week’s flooded roads, it’s now ice that poses the biggest danger to drivers.

“Anyone setting out needs to be particularly careful when driving on rural or other quiet roads which haven’t been gritted – key as always is slowing down so that drivers have as much time as possible to react should their cars lose grip.

“And, although this week’s cold snap will be much briefer than the freezing conditions we saw in December that led to the RAC’s busiest week ever, we’re still expecting to see a big increase in breakdowns.

“Batteries failing in the cold will be the top reason for calling us out, but people whose cars do start are most likely to need our help with tyre problems.”