UK weather: Yellow snow alert in force as temperatures plummet amid Arctic blast

The Met Office has issued fresh weather warnings for snow and ice for areas including the North East and South West of England.

One yellow warning, covering areas in North East England, East Midlands, the East of England, Yorkshire and Humber and parts of Scotland, will be active from 5pm on Thursday until 11am on Friday.

Another yellow warning, affecting areas such as Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset, will be in place from 3am to 4pm on Thursday.

The forecaster said: “Showers, wintry in places, will continue to affect northern and eastern Scotland and eastern England through Thursday evening and overnight into Friday morning.

“These are likely to fall onto frozen surfaces allowing icy patches to form.

“From approximately the Humber northwards, showers will often fall as snow inland, with up to 2cm possible in places, and perhaps as much as 5cm over high ground. Further south, any snow accumulations are more likely to be restricted to higher ground.”

The Met Office added: “Spells of snow may develop over hills, especially parts of Bodmin Moor, Dartmoor, Blackdown Hills and Exmoor during the early hours of Thursday before petering out later in the day.

“The highest parts of Dartmoor and perhaps Bodmin Moor may see 5-10cm of snow with some drifting in strong easterly winds.

“Elsewhere, accumulations are likely to be relatively small, perhaps 1-3cm at most, and mainly in areas inland and above 100-200m. In addition to this, icy patches may also develop on untreated surfaces.”

Yellow – Ice – Northern Ireland

Yellow – Snow & ice – Central, Tayside & Fife, Grampian, Highlands & Eilean Siar, North East England, SW Scotland, Lothian Borders, Yorkshire & Humber

Yellow – Snow & ice – South West England

Yellow – Snow & ice – Central, Tayside & Fife, East Midlands, East of England, Grampian, Highlands & Eilean Siar, North East England, Orkney & Shetland, SW Scotland, Lothian Borders, Yorkshire & Humber

Yellow weather warnings are now in place for snow and ice across large swathes of the UK, including Northern Ireland, Central, Tayside & Fife, Grampian, Highlands & Eilean Siar, north east England, SW Scotland, Lothian Borders, and Yorkshire & Humber.

Temperatures have plunged to a low of minus 7.2C in England as snow fell in Scotland, Northumberland and Yorkshire, but the Met Office has said it is too early to predict a white Christmas.

Swathes of Scotland, England and Ireland were warned to brace themselves for snow and ice, with weather warnings issued amid plummeting temperatures.

The forecaster said the three lowest temperatures recorded at its observation sites overnight were all in Cumbria on Wednesday, with a low of minus 7.2C in Bridgefoot, minus 6.5C in Shap and minus 6.1C in Keswick.

The BBC reported that parts of the UK had their coldest November night since 2010, and that it was minus 8C at Aonach Mor in the Scottish Highlands.

Met Office spokeswoman Nicola Maxey said it has recorded snow in eastern Scotland, Northumberland and Yorkshire, with about 2cm of snow in some eastern coast areas and 5cm at Fylingdales on the North York Moors.

As we’re explained previously, households can get £25 each time the average temperature in their area is 0C or below for seven consecutive days, between November 1 and March 31.

The government’s Cold Winter Payment scheme applys to people who are getting Pension Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Universal Credit, or Support for Mortgage Interest.

It doesn’t apply to peopel in Scotland.

With the weather forecast seeing temperatures drop to freezing for many areas this week, it means thousands look set to benefit from the payment.

As the weather gets colder and snow can be seen in some parts of the country, it’s the question many of us will now be thinking…. any chance of a white Christmas this year?

Well, a Met Office spokesperson said it’ll be difficult to predict with a degree celsius change making all the difference, but she did not rule it out.

Speaking to Sky, she said: “There is often a fine line between who sees snow and who sees rain. Sometimes just a fraction of a degree celsius change in temperature can make the difference between rain or snow falling, making forecasting snow weeks in advance extremely difficult.

“The definition of a white Christmas most widely used is for a single snowflake to be observed falling in the 24 hours of 25 December.

“Therefore, snow falls somewhere in the UK for more Christmas days than not. But widespread snow falling and lying on the ground is rather more infrequent.”

As we can see in the post on X from the Met Office, there is now snow forecast for east in Somerset and Devon with the white stuff expected over Exeter, Yeovil and Taunton at around 7am tomorrow.

Not that social media users believe it. One person responds: “Doubt it very much”, while another states: “Lovely cold rain.”