Britain will become warmer than Italy and France this week, forecasts suggest, with temperatures set to climb to spring-like highs over the next few days ahead of a potential arctic blast identified by weather maps. The latest charts show the coming few days will likely prove unseasonably mild, with the mercury potentially surging by more than 10C in some parts of the country towards averages most people wouldn’t experience for another month or two.
While snow falls across parts of Scotland and weather warnings for rain in Wales and the south west of England, the Met Office has predicted London will hit 16C by Thursday, February 15, making the capital several degrees warmer than Milan in northern Italy.
The city is expected to hit 13C on the same day, when even Nice will be cooler than London, with highs reaching up to 15C.
Londoners will both see the warmest weather and the most dramatic temperature changes, records show, ahead of another mercury nosedive in the following week.
When London hits 16C, temperatures will have nearly doubled in just a few days, data from the Met Office shows.
On Monday, February 12, the forecasters recorded lows of 3C, with temperatures gently rising across the day to a maximum of 9C.
The following day, temperatures were split between 4C and 10C in the capital, and later today, they are expected to reach 14C.
By Thursday, Londoners will have seen the mercury increase by 7C in three short days, and those temperatures will be the highest the city has seen all year.
The shift may feel like a seasonal change for the city’s nearly nine million residents, but it will likely prove short-lived.
Weather maps suggest that next week, temperatures will drop once more across the UK, down below zero in some areas.
WXCharts data shows the mercury will gradually drop over the next few days, reaching the single-figure range after Tuesday, February 20.
Over the following days, until the most distant end of the forecast on February 26, temperatures appear set to drop down to 0C in London and even further, to -7C at the lowest, in Scotland.
The Met Office long-range forecast makes clear that distant forecasts are ultimately subject to change and has predicted that late February will likely stay “mild and feeling warm”.
Between February 28 and March 13, the meteorologists said the chances of “colder and drier than average conditions” will increase, although the forecast is far from decided.
Today:
Cloud and rain will spread into southern Scotland with some hill snow, but mostly staying dry further north. Elsewhere, largely cloudy and very mild with outbreaks of rain and drizzle. Some brighter spells in eastern England. Mild.
Tonight:
Rain reaches north Scotland, with cloud and further rain elsewhere, heaviest towards western and southern areas. Remaining exceptionally mild for the time of year in England and Wales.
Thursday:
Generally cloudy with spells of rain throughout, heaviest and most persistent in the west. Areas in southeast England seeing bright, even sunny spells. Feeling very mild, especially in brighter periods.
Outlook for Friday to Sunday:
Drier and brighter Friday with a few showers in England and Wales. Rain in the west on Saturday, but drier in the east. Remaining mild for the time of year.
