The Met Office has issued its first snow warning of the winter, with Britain expected to face icy temperatures this week. A yellow weather warning for snow has been issued for northern Scotland on Wednesday, with snow showers likely to disrupt travel. Snow could also fall in parts of Northern Ireland and north-east England, with the coldest temperatures expected from Wednesday onwards.
Much of the UK is expected to remain just above freezing during the day and fall below overnight. The Met Office said: 'It will likely continue to be cold with further showers for much of the UK, which will fall as sleet and snow across the north leading to some accumulations of snow across higher ground.' Showers falling as rain or sleet are more likely in parts of the south.
The weather warning for Scotland states that up to 2-5cm of snow is possible on lower ground, rising to 5-10cm on ground above 200 metres. Some drifting and blizzard conditions are possible in strong northerly winds. The warning covers Central, Tayside and Fife, Grampian, Highlands and Eilean Sia, and Orkney and Shetland.
From Wednesday, daytime temperatures are expected to be as low as 2C, falling to -3C overnight on Thursday, in a cold snap originating from low pressure in Norway. The outlook for the rest of the month suggests the weather could get warmer, but with wet and windy conditions for the south and west.
The UK would need a December of near-record cold weather to avoid 2022 being its warmest year on record. Provisional figures from the Met Office show autumn was the third warmest on record for the UK, with an average mean temperature of 11.1C. November continued 2022’s run of every month being warmer than average.
