Britain is facing a total white-out as new weather maps show snow falling across multiple regions.
Forecasts suggest as much as 10 inches will be settling overnight in some parts of the country into Tuesday morning, with significant accumulations expected as far south as Hertfordshire. The cold front will begin to sweep in along northern and western coasts in the early hours of tomorrow morning, moving further inland throughout the day and into the evening. A second wintry blast will then move through the English Channel on Wednesday afternoon, affecting much of the south coast and even reaching London.
Widespread frost and icy conditions are also expected for Tuesday morning, meaning more perilous conditions on the roads. It comes amid a chilly and soggy start to 2025 for much of the UK, after a major incident was declared in Rutland and Leicestershire on Monday with heavy rain and melting snow caused rivers to burst their banks.
Hundreds of schools were closed yesterday, while cold snowy weather has also brought major disruption to motorways, airports and the rail network over the past 48 hours.
It has been an icy start to January for most of the country and it will remain cold into the middle of the month with Arctic air continuing to flow southwards. And when it hits low pressure systems moving in from the Atlantic it is leading to snow and freezing rain.
While we have heard freezing rain mentioned by forecasters recently, it is actually quite rare and happens when rain immediately freezes on landing. “Freezing rain is a rare type of liquid precipitation that strikes a cold surface, and freezes almost instantly,” states the Met Office.
“The conditions needed for freezing rain are quite specific and we don’t see this phenomenon very often in the UK. It can produce striking effects, as the rain drop spreads out momentarily across the surface before it freezes, encasing the surface in a layer of clear ice.”
Where is snow forecast in the UK this week?
All four nations will see snow over the next 48 hours, the latest forecasts say. According to the maps from WXCharts, snow will fall in the following counties between Tuesday 7 January and Wednesday 8 January:
England
- Cumbria
- Cornwall
- Essex
- Devon
- Dorset
- Greater Manchester
- Hampshire
- Herefordshire
- Hertfordshire
- Kent
- Lancashire
- London
- Lincolnshire
- Liverpool
- Merseyside
- Oxfordshire
- Somerset
- Shropshire
- Staffordshire
- Suffolk
Scotland
- Aberdeenshire
- Argyllshire
- Caithness
- Forfarshire
- Inverness-shire
- Ross-shire
- Scottish Borders
- Shetland Isles
Wales
- Anglesey
- Cardiff
- Carmarthenshire
- Ceredigion
- Gwynedd
- Pembrokeshire
- Swansea
Northern Ireland
- Antrim
- Armagh
- Down
- Fermanagh
- Londonderry
- Tyrone
What has the Met Office said?
The Met Office have also warned that more snow will be falling across the nation this week. Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Frank Saunders, said: “Hail, sleet or snow showers are expected to affect parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland, spreading to Wales and parts of northwest England this evening, before moving into part of southwest England, the Midlands and southern England during the early hours of Tuesday. Rain or hail is more likely towards some western coasts.
“Icy stretches which develop overnight as a result of these showers, or the recent wet conditions, could bring some disruption to travel. In addition to the ice, we could see snow accumulations of a few cm above 200 metres, with a chance of greater than 5 cm above 200 metres in Wales. The heaviest snow showers may also produce temporary accumulations of 0-2 cm at low levels. It is not possible to say exactly where this snow might fall, so it’s important that people are prepared.”