Cold air is taking hold for the end of the working week. There is the promise of sunshine for Saturday, Valentine’s Day. There are warnings for ice, and it will be a frosty start to the weekend for much of the UK. Then all change from the west during Saturday night as an Atlantic front interrupts the cold Arctic air. This will bring a spell of wet and wintry weather, which will clear away over the North Sea on Sunday morning.
There has already been snow in parts of Britain, from a temporary smattering to tricky conditions on Pennine routes on Friday morning. Southern Britain has held onto milder conditions but there will be wet and blustery weather for Friday evening. Frontal bands continue to move southwards. There will be rain to end the day with sleet and wet snow over the Welsh Mountains and northerly gales through the Irish Sea, for Pembrokeshire and coastal Cornwall.
Frontal rain clearing southwards on Friday, with cold Arctic air following from the north - Netweather Radar Friday 4:25pm
Friday night
As the cloud and precipitation over southern Britain clears away over France, temperatures will fall away under clearing skies. There are Met Office Ice warnings for Northern Ireland, Wales and parts of England. Anywhere that has seen rain on Friday, or where there is surface water, will be at risk of ice. SE England will stay breezy with a northeasterly wind and the cloud cover will be slow to clear.
Clear skies and sunshine for Saturday morning with a cold icy and frosty start
Eastern Scotland finally saw blue skies and sunshine on Friday. The gloomy, sunless three weeks for Aberdeen had been much reported upon. A welcome change and more to come on Saturday.
The Arctic air has made its presence felt with plenty of dampness in the air. There is a Snow & Ice warning over northern Scotland, including the Islands. Already, there have been sleet and snow showers coming down from the north and these will continue into Friday night, but ease off. There is also a yellow warning for coastal NE England down to the Humber. Again for wintry showers which will skirt by on Friday night.
For much of the UK, there won’t be snow. Just passing showers for the far north and the North Yorkshire Moors look rather prone.
Saturday
High pressure on Saturday brings a sunny, dry day with brilliant sunshine and blue skies. However, it will be cold and frosty and watch out for the ice. Don’t spend Valentine’s Day in A&E with a fractured arm. Temperatures by day will be around 4 to 6C.
There will be a few wintry showers for the north coast of Wales, perhaps managing to clip Norfolk and a more hearty band reaching the Northern Isles on Saturday afternoon. Gradually, high cloud will appear from the west, extending and lowering over Ireland into western Britain. This is the frontal system from the Atlantic.
We have cold air in place over the UK and Saturday night will see a band of rain, sleet and snow sweep eastwards. There is a yellow Snow & Ice warning over all of mainland northern Britain
“Snow, heavy at times, may cause some disruption to travel, especially over high ground during Saturday night and Sunday morning”. There will be falling snow, but also sleet onto existing ice and the wind will pick up from the south, so it will feel cold and damp.
There will be some milder air for southwestern Britain on Saturday night but for most it will be a miserable night.
Sunday
The brisk southerly winds will be clearing away over the North Sea with the rain and snow on Sunday morning. Behind the front, the winds will veer to the southwest with milder air on the way. This leaves a mixed day with blustery showers, bright spells but also a spell of heavier rain heading for Wales and southwest England. This region still has flooding concerns with saturated ground and doesn’t need any more heavy rain. It will move through quite quickly and head across to London and SE England during Sunday afternoon.
Saturday will definitely be the better day, but it will be cold and watch out for the icy start.
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