UK weather forecast: Britain to enjoy balmy weekend before snow and sub-zero temperatures sweep in
Country could see return of 'Beast from the East'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A balmy weekend will bring some relief to shivering Britons before snow sweeps in towards the end of the month, forecasters say.
After a cold day for many on Thursday, forecasters are predicting the country will bask in a warmer, milder weekend before temperatures dip to the average for the time of year.
Britain is experiencing the same weather patterns that brought last year’s Beast from the East, which could cause a repeat of the snow that brought the country to a halt.
Friday will be a fairly dry day with some cloud around and light rain and drizzle in places, which will be more persistent in the north west.
Temperatures will be just above the average of 6C for the time of year, with Newcastle seeing around 7C-8C, Manchester 8C-9C, and Bristol and London 9C-10C.
Similar weather to Friday will continue into the weekend, but the mercury will creep up to double figures on Saturday and Sunday.
Monday night will dip to below freezing in the north of England, Scotland and the east, with Norwich potentially seeing lows of -3C and London 2C, with -1C in isolated areas.
This mild, cloudy weather with rain and sunny spells will continue for the first half of the month before temperatures plummet.
Met Office forecaster Nicola Maxey told The Independent: “It’s mainly this weather we’re seeing at the moment continuing into the middle of the month.
“Then, as we go through towards the end of the month, these conditions become a little bit more changeable with some spells of rain and strong winds, and some of that rain might fall as snow.
“We’ve had a sudden stratospheric warming and that is the same weather phenomenon that resulted in the Beast from the East last year.”
This raising of temperatures at high altitudes eventually led to the Beast from the East being drawn in from Siberia early last year, battering the UK with heavy snow and ice-cold temperatures and bringing parts of the country to a standstill.
Snowy conditions and freezing temperatures hit the length of the UK in late February and early March, prompting the Met Office to issue a rare red weather warning, its highest category, in central Scotland.
The extreme weather, brought by a mixture of the Beast from the East and Storm Emma, saw widespread travel disruption and resulted in the deaths of 17 people.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments