Yellow weather warning for ice and snow - including parts of the South West
Much of Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland have a warning in place - with the warning extending to much of our region by the middle of the week
Snow showers and ice are on the way this week, the Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for much of the UK from this evening - including across parts of the South West, including Gloucestershire, Swindon, Bristol, Bath and parts of North Somerset.
The forecasters said temperatures in parts of the UK will drop below freezing on Monday night with weather warnings in place until Friday.
In the middle of the week, the warning for snow extends to more parts of our region, stretching as far south as St Austell in Cornwall here in the South West.
Up to 30cm of snow could fall in isolated spots across Scotland tonight while other areas could see 10-20cm of snow fall.
A yellow weather warning will be in place for London, the Thames Valley, East Anglia, parts of the Midlands, parts of the South West and South Wales from 9pm on Monday night until 10am on Tuesday.
An identical one will be in place in Northern Ireland at the same time.
A yellow weather warning for snow and ice is already in place in much of Northern and Eastern Scotland and North East England.
The area covered by it is set to extend as far south as Hull from Tuesday before it lifts at 10am on Wednesday.
Cold conditions for all the UK - and it'll be colder across the South West by Wednesday
Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said temperatures could drop to minus 1C in Manchester and 2C in London on Monday night.
Across Bristol and Bath, there will be lows of just one degree - which could be much colder than that in some rural areas.
Even colder overnight conditions are set to hit cities later in the week- with the mercury plunging to minus 4C in London and minus 6C in Birmingham and Belfast.
It won't be as cold as that in the South West - with Bath seeing lows of just minus one degrees, according to the Met Office.
In Exeter, there will be wintry showers falling to 1 degree on Wednesday morning - with similar conditions across Devon and parts of Cornwall, Somerset, Bristol, Bath, Gloucestershire and Swindon.
The further north you go, the deeper temperatures fall, with lows of 0 degrees expected in Gloucester in the early hours of Wednesday.
Mr Madge said conditions could be similar to those experienced during a cold snap in December 2022 and may not lift for almost a fortnight.
He said: “Temperatures will be much, much colder than we would expect at this time of year.
“The pattern will set in for some time. We have got this feed of cold air coming in from a much higher latitude.
“We expect these conditions to remain in place until at least next weekend and possibly longer because sometimes these conditions can be quite stubborn and not easily subject to change.”
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has placed north-east England, north-west England and Yorkshire under a level three cold weather alert, with the rest of England at level two, until midnight on Thursday.
What to expect
- Some roads and railways likely to be affected with longer journey times by road, bus and train services
- Some injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces
- Probably some icy patches on some untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths
How to drive on icy roads:
- You should leave up to 10 times the normal recommended gap between you and the car in front
- Even if the temperature is above zero and there’s no ice on the road, you should take extra care
- A higher gear may be more appropriate to aid grip on packed ice