Met Office forecasters have said a winter blast will bring a “resurgence in the really cold weather” over the weekend kicking off freezing temperatures that could last for weeks.
The weather agency said the UK was under the influence of a high pressure band sucking down colder than average air from the Arctic to leave Britain shivering in its wake.
Minus temperatures can be seen all over the country by the beginning of next week on January 15, with maps from WXCharts showing the nation swathed in deep blue signifying widespread freezing conditions.
Met Office Head of Situational Awareness Will Lang said: “There will be a resurgence in the really cold weather through the weekend and that spreads across the whole of the UK during the early part of next week.
“Initially, this means there will be more in the way of showers around the coasts, turning increasingly to snow for many areas, especially further north.”
The Met Office website added that this cold front “really signals is a reinforcement of the cold conditions as we move into next week”.
A snow chart from NetWeather shows potential large snowfalls on Thursday January 18 for upland areas of Wales and much of northern and central England.
Concentrations of the white stuff are particularly heavy on the maps over the Pennines, Yorkshire Dales and North Yorkshire Moors, as well as the Lake District.
Looking at the long-range outlook the Met Office’s Aidan McGivern said: “We start with a northerly airflow and snow showers, especially near the coasts in the north. But there will also be brighter skies for some.
“Then, from the middle of next week, low-pressure tries to move in from the southwest, and the impact of this is still a bit uncertain at this range.
“Different models are saying different things in terms of the track of this low, but you have the ingredients for snow with cold air in place and additional moisture supplied from the Atlantic, which will bring rain, but on the boundary with the cold air, you could see some snow.”
Despite the urban heat effect of heavily built-up areas, temperatures dropped as low as -1C in Birmingham, 0C in Glasgow and 1C in London overnight.
An amber cold health alert for the North West of England, the Midlands, the South West of England and the South East of England is also in place until noon on Friday.
The amber alert, issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), means “cold weather impacts are likely to be felt across the whole health service for an extended period of time”.
