Forecasters are poised for a “cold and severe” start to 2024 with risks of snow, brutal winds and chaos for the nation. Weather maps and a meteorologist are among those detailing the risk of a bitter beginning to January.
Jim Dale, a senior meteorologist at British Weather Services, a climate change commentator and a regular debate candidate on broadcast news channels, named the Troll from Trondheim last year.
He told Express.co.uk the name was for a bitter easterly blast originating from Trondheim, a city in central Norway. Its positioning, north of the UK and to the right of Iceland, makes it a component in shaping the UK’s colder weather systems.
Its wrath is not tipped as being as detrimental as the prior Beast from the East, a deadly weather front that wreaked havoc on Britain in 2018. But it still has capacity to bring chaos and hazardous conditions for some UK regions.
Mr Dale told Express.co.uk: “We’re more likely to get a northern Troll. I expect Scotland to be fairly loaded, some chaos for parts of the North and at the moment, a dusting of less for the South. Caveat, we haven’t yet seen the whites of the Troll’s eyes.
“It’s definitely going colder but the extent of it and the snow is still ‘misty’. I think we are going to have to be patient. Still, various indicators continue to point to a polar spell as January unravels.”
And the Met Office, which usually clarifies that forecasting snow can be harder than other weathers, has also mentioned a risk of “severe” cold fronts pushing across Britain from early 2024.
In its long-range forecast for January 3-12, updated today, it says: “This period will start in an unsettled fashion, with showers in many places, and these will be heavy at times, with temperatures around normal for early January.
“During the rest of the period there will be a gradual trend towards more settled and somewhat colder conditions with some frosty nights (perhaps becoming widespread and severe in time).
“Occasional unsettled spells are still possible, but these will be generally much more regionalised, and infrequent than conditions of late.
“As temperatures fall, the chance of any precipitation falling as sleet and snow increases, particularly over high ground and especially over northern parts of the UK, but not exclusively so by any means.
“As well as frost and ice by night, some freezing fog is likely to develop as well.” These early indicators also align with what weather maps from WXCharts are showing.
Maps show a cold front, coming from the east, could hit the eastern coast of Britain from Sunday, January 7 – with flurries of snow creeping into northern England. Come the next day, Scotland will be plunged into a deep freeze of -6C, with London struggling to stay above 0C.
Wednesday, January 10 looks set to be the coldest day in the first half of next month – with temperatures for every corner of the nation falling to freezing or below.
By 6am, a wall of snow stretching from northern Scotland to Southampton is set to push across – but as ever, it is never known exactly how much of it will settle. Snow depth maps indicate up to 2cm could settle in Birmingham.
Looking ahead to the end of January, precision falters even further, with the Met Office issuing a less detailed update for January 13-27. It says: “Compared to normal, there is an increased chance of colder than average conditions during this period.
“Currently the chance of widespread severe cold is still deemed low, but still the risk of impacts from cold, ice and snow is greater than normal.”
