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UK weather: How cold will it be this weekend after Met Office debunks claims of snow

There is only a 10% to 15% chance of significantly cold weather over the next few days, the Met Office said. (PA)
There is only a 10% to 15% chance of significantly cold weather over the next few days, the Met Office said. (PA)

The Met Office this week debunked claims snow is set to hit the UK and send temperatures plummeting.

Contrary to reports of an impending “snow bomb”, the weather agency is not actually forecasting any snow this month.

In fact, while temperatures are expected to drop, the Met Office said there is only a “small chance” of the bitterly cold conditions seen in parts of December and January.

Spokesman Grahame Madge told Yahoo News UK: “From Sunday into Monday, we are going to see colder conditions return to the UK. There could be frost but there is a negligible risk of snow. There could be a cold snap overnight.

"There is a small chance we could see much colder conditions. The chances of much colder conditions are about 10% to 15%. The risk of any significantly impactful snow is much less than that.

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"This prospect of a 'Beast from the East' [the extended cold snap seen in February 2018] isn't in any forecast we can see."

Madge said the coldest conditions will be in the south and east of the country overnight from Sunday into Monday, with temperatures predicted to be as low as -4C in Norwich and -3C in London.

As of 1pm on Friday, the Met Office was saying Saturday will be dry and cloudy across much of England and Wales.

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From Sunday to Tuesday, it said there will be overnight frost and general cold conditions, but “plenty of dry and sunny weather for many”.

Between Tuesday and (7 February) and 16 February, the agency said "there is a small and possibly diminishing chance of much colder conditions for a time across the south".

And from 17 February to 3 March, it said there will be "changeable weather, with unsettled and windy conditions, especially in the north-west. The best of the settled conditions in the east and southeast. Temperatures likely average or slightly milder than average, with a chance of short-lived colder spells."