Met Office weather maps show 20 counties in the UK are set to see snow next week, including Durham and Northumberland. The forecasters had already warned of "hill snow" for Monday and Tuesday, but the flurries now appear likely to be more widespread than first thought.
Where Snow Is Expected
Wales is among the first regions expected to see snow at around 6pm on Monday, with rainy showers set to fall across most of southern and central England. The snow is anticipated to be most intense over hills in North Wales.
By around 9pm, the forecast indicates snow will have drifted over the north-east, reaching parts of Yorkshire as well as northern parts of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, The Mirror reports. By midnight, snow is shown as falling over most of North Wales and northern England.
Scotland and Earlier Flurries
Scotland is also set to see snowfall and wintry conditions across the borders in the early hours of Tuesday morning, but most of the snow will have subsided by around 9am, according to the data. More snow is expected before Monday too, with the Met Office saying "some rain and hill snow" is on the cards in Scotland on Saturday. Conditions will be "largely fine and dry" elsewhere in England and Wales.
Stratospheric Warming Context
The warning comes as BBC Weather describes the event as the "earliest major sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) on record", with winds spiralling above the Arctic having changed from their typical westerly direction to easterly. The BBC explained that "these changes can slowly filter lower down in the atmosphere altering the position of the jet stream which drives what type of weather we experience on the ground".
SSW events could lead to chilly snaps in the UK and can also "boost the possibility of snow, especially across eastern parts of the UK". Previously, the earliest major SSW event on record happened on November 28 in both 1969 and 2025. However, forecasters warn the chilly blast this week comes as a result of developments in the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere, rather than the stratosphere.
Counties facing snow on Monday and Tuesday include Shropshire, Herefordshire, Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cumbria, Durham and Northumberland in England; Caernarfonshire, Denbighshire, Merioneth, Montgomeryshire, Cardiganshire, Radnorshire and Flintshire in Wales; and Dumfriesshire and Roxburghshire in Scotland.
