Weather maps looking ahead have forecast more snow for vast swathes of the UK in the coming days.
The diagrams covering Tuesday, March 4 and Wednesday, March 5, from WXCharts show depths of 9cm in the Scottish Highlands, around 6cm in Manchester and 5cm in Belfast as the white stuff falls at around 6am. The charts go on to show those depths pushing to 10cm in Scotland by noon.
The forecast which uses MetDesk data, shows many parts of the country turning white, with deeper snowfall marked in shades of blue. It does appear from this information that most of the eastern half of the UK, as well as the south, will miss the snowfall.
A Met Office long range forecast, which spans from Wednesday, February 26 to Friday, March 7, says the Atlantic will be the most prominent force on the countries weather as winter turns to Spring. It reads: “Changeable weather is expected across the UK during this period with Atlantic weather systems spreading in from the west at times.
“These systems will bring periods of wet and windy weather, with a risk of heavy rain and gales at times. The heaviest rainfall and strongest winds are most likely to affect western and northwestern regions of the UK, with rainfall totals typically lower and winds lighter in the southeast.
Between weather systems, some drier and brighter interludes are likely to develop with lighter winds, spells of sunshine and perhaps a few showers. Temperatures are likely to be above average overall, although some short-lived colder spells are possible at times, particularly in the north of the UK.”
Meanwhile, Met Office lightning maps show strikes were first recorded on Wednesday afternoon, at around 2pm off the west coast of Ireland. Storms moved in and intensified early on the morning on February 20 at 5am and throughout the rest of the day, with thousands of bolts hitting Scotland and the Republic of Ireland/Northern Ireland border.
Since the first strikes hit at 2.10pm on Wednesday, 2,133 have rained down on the UK, according to the Met Office. The trend appears to have ended today, with forecasters yet to record any bolts on February 21.
That doesn’t mean the worst of the weather has passed, however. The Met Office expects conditions to intensify again by February 23.
The agency has issued warnings for dozens of areas from the tip of Scotland to southwest England – covering everywhere except London and parts of the southeast – anticipating strong 50 to 60mph gusts, and in some cases 70mph. The yellow alerts activate from 6am on Sunday and will last until 6pm.
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