UK weather: Met Office warns 'wet snow' on its way as Britain hit by first flurries
Icy winds, plummeting temperatures and snow showers have hit parts of Britain, signalling that winter is very much on its way.
Some parts of the country woke up to snow for the first time this morning as flurries hit high ground on hills in northern England, Wales and Scotland. Snow also fell as far south as Brighton and Devil’s Dyke in the South Downs of Sussex.
A bitterly cold blast blowing in from eastern Europe saw rain, sleet and snow fall across Britain on Tuesday and the early hours of Wednesday.
Higher ground in the south west of England and Wales may see a possible dusting of snow on Wednesday according to the Met Office, with light snow reported to be falling in the Cotswolds.
In the south, motorists were warned showers and freezing temperatures meant a risk of ice on the roads on Wednesday.
Are you heading to work soon? #Showers will continue for some this morning with #sleet and #snow over hills and in heavier downpours. Under clearer skies in the southwest there could be some #ice – have you got your scraper ready? pic.twitter.com/ywf61OwqeU
— Met Office (@metoffice) November 21, 2018
Snow fell in Exmoor in south-west England and also across the Pennines in the north, while strong winds buffeted the coast.
People tweeted their own evidence of the snowfall overnight, including in Brighton and Cumbria.
The @peakdistrict wakes to a dusting of snow this morning. @stormhour @UKSnowUpdates #uksnow #derbyshire #snakepass pic.twitter.com/KXh8YWaD1h
— Tom PressPhotog (@TomPressPhotog) November 21, 2018
Seems we’ve had a little snow in Brighton overnight *awaits a telling off from the Twitter police 😈 #UkSnow pic.twitter.com/ZSZPBW9kzo
— Jac 💙 (@jac_of_albion) November 21, 2018
Treacherous roads conditions in the parts of the Pennines this morning #Cumbria #Durham #Yorkshire #uksnow @UKSnowUpdates @StormHour pic.twitter.com/A9xlmzknnk
— PAUL KINGSTON (@PaulKingstonNNP) November 21, 2018
Snowing in GL10 (!). 1/10 #uksnow
— Robin Smith (@RobinSmith82) November 21, 2018
We’ve had a sprinkle of #snow on #Snowdon overnight and it’s feeling pretty cold here in #Llanberis ❄#winterweather #Snowdonia #uksnow #wednesdaythoughts pic.twitter.com/oXJpS1xoAp
— Snowdon Railway (@SnowdonMR) November 21, 2018
Having a mix of small snowflakes, then large ones, they keep chopping and changing GL6 5/10 #uksnow pic.twitter.com/gi68Ty3R13
— Kitty Davis (@KittyDavis) November 21, 2018
Snow flurries this morning at the Park! #snowy #brrrrr #Cotswolds #UKSnow pic.twitter.com/ouiGh8RmoH
— CotswoldWildlifePark (@CotsWildTweets) November 21, 2018
However, despite the surprising snowfall in the south, a Met Office spokeswoman told Yahoo News that it is not set to stick around.
She said: “Snowfall across southern and central England is set to turn to rain throughout Wednesday.
“The cold weather will remain for the rest of the week and snow will continue on higher ground, but showers are likely to be wet snow.”
Wet snow’ is a higher density than fluffier, ‘dry snow’ but is ideal for building snowmen and snowballs.
She added that the snow in northern parts of the country is typical for the time of year.
Met Office senior meteorologist Simon Partridge added: “We will see further snow over the high ground in England and Scotland. But it will be fairly wet stuff so it won’t stay for long.”
Tuesday saw heavy rainfalls recorded in Yorkshire, with Hull receiving about 20mm over a 48-hour period.
The gusty winds, coming across from Russia and Poland, made the weather feel even colder after a warm summer and spring.
Meteorologists are working on a longer-term winter forecast, and they expect it could be a wet season.