Severe frost and fog to end the week

We have some bitterly cold nights to get through but the trend for the end of the week is for drier weather followed by a gradual change to milder conditions. High pressure will slide southwards across Britain keeping the winds light, the weather mostly settled, but there is a risk of freezing fog and ice in places until the very cold air shifts. 

For the new week, it will turn milder from the west as a southwesterly wind picks up and rain tries to push in from the Atlantic. 

From Arctic to Atlantic: Biting overnight cold to come but milder air next week The next few nights will be very cold with a widespread hard frost, bringing a risk of ice and also freezing fog in places. It does gradually look to turn milder from Sunday, starting in the northwest then all parts through early next week. Netweather

Showers from the north will fade as the pressure builds but this high will shield the UK from incoming weather fronts at the weekend. Rain, with maybe a little hill snow, will reach SW Britain early on Friday, again on Saturday morning and by Sunday it will be Scotland’s turn to see rain from the west.

There have been lots of low numbers bandied about, I got a text this morning repeating online news, “-17C!”. Outside it was -1C but probably feeling more like -6C in the brisk north wind and that was cold enough. Tulloch Bridge in the Highlands recorded -12.4C  overnight and early on Monday 6th Loch Glascarnoch recorded -13.3C. The lowest UK recorded minimum is -27.2C in Braemar.

This week's low numbers, around -15C, are up in the Pennines, the Cumbrian Fells or Highland Scotland. It will be cold overnight in many parts of the UK with a severe frost and temperatures of -1 to -8C. Consider covering outside taps. Temperatures will be lower where there is lying snow.

During Thursday night there will be some heavier snowfall as clusters of showers arrive from the north, reaching Grampian in particular. The showers in the north will fade as they will from north Wales but a few may brush the east coast of England from the North Sea. 

As precipitation makes two attempts into Southwest Britain there might be sleet and snow over the Moors, maybe even the hills of south Wales, but not amounting to much. It will mostly be rain. For Lincolnshire and the East Midlands, the dry weather will be welcome news after recent river flooding.

These will be cold days with lingering freezing fog in parts. 

The Weekend

A frosty start with freezing fog to watch for. Some areas will be bright and sunny but still feel cold. Others will be grey, even murky which will add to the grim chill. Frontal rain will reach over Cornwall, Devon into SW Wales too. There will be some heavier bursts with sleet or icy rain but that precipitation fades. 

For Saturday night there will be areas of low cloud and freezing fog with a frost again for central and eastern Britain. Further west the change to milder air will be taking hold. Frontal rain will topple around the high pressure into western and northern Scotland which will be quite a change after over a week of snow. Again it will be a mixed day with sunshine for some but low cloud and fog for others. It will become windy in the north with southerly gales for NW Scotland later in the weekend. Temperatures will rise as they will in Northern Ireland, but it will be windy and for the Irish Sea. Away in SE Britain, it will remain cold with a slight frost to end the weekend. 

Heavy rain will set in for NW Britain combined with melting snow for NW Scotland. This will bring the risk of flooding. By Tuesday the daytime temperatures look to be in double figures for much of the UK as the milder southwesterly flow is established.