The Met Office has warned a last gasp of winter threatens to blast Britain with an icy breath just days before spring is due to bloom.
According to the UK forecasting agency, it’s not quite time to pack away the hat and scarves just yet as temperatures could plummet once more in mid-March.
Long-range charts show icy blue mercury readings for the entire British Isles on March 10 despite daffodils being in bloom and buds appearing on the trees.
A spokesperson for the Met Office said the cold air was being driven south by unusual conditions over Greenland and Iceland that look like they will “block” weather patterns leaving a greater chance of cold high-pressure air hanging over the UK.
Royal Museums Greenwich places the official start date of spring on March 20, which makes the coming of the Vernal Equinox.
A spokesperson for the Met Office said: “Towards mid-March there is an increased chance of a greater likelihood of higher pressure as a ‘blocked’ pattern becoming established over Greenland and Iceland, with lower pressure towards the south and southwest.
“This is likely to bring a trend towards increasingly settled conditions, with the likelihood of drier than normal conditions, especially in the north.
“This may lead to a slightly greater than normal chance of colder than average temperatures, although this is mitigated as we move further into spring.
“Perhaps slightly wetter in the south with lower pressure over the near Continent, with an east or northeasterly flow across the UK.
“Low impact temperature thresholds have a slight chance of being reached, although probably remaining close to climatology.”
Shivering conditions are definitely not over for the UK in the short term either, with a 200-mile snow bomb set to explode over most of the country next week.
By Sunday, weather charts show snow forming a band that stretches from Manchester to Birmingham and across Wales, between Oswestry and Aberystwyth, with smaller pockets of showers on the southwest coast.
