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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Tim Hanlon

UK weather forecast: Colder than Greenland as Arctic blast brings -5C freeze this weekend

Brits are set for more freezing temperatures over the weekend with lows of -5C making it colder than Greenland.

After a week of balmy weather where the mercury rose to 20C, the cold has returned with a vengeance with snow and ice up and down the country.

Wintry showers on Friday saw snowfall on the seafront in Hastings, East Sussex and is the result of Arctic air moving southwards.

Another yellow warning for ice which could cause "some injuries from slips and falls" and "possible travel disruption" is in place in eastern areas on Saturday morning.

Covering the eastern half of the country including the Scottish Borders, Northumberland, Durham, North Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, the warning lasts from midnight until 10am on Saturday.

Freezing conditions are expected for Saturday morning (Perthshire Advertiser)

The Met Office is predicting freezing conditions on Saturday and Sunday morning before temperatures rise at the start of next week.

A high pressure is moving in from the west bringing warmer and wet weather but there is also likelihood of snow when it mixes with cold air from the north.

Meanwhile, maps from WXCharts show widespread snow up and down the country next Friday and Saturday with up to 25 centimetres falling in Wales.

Temperatures are set to be lower in the UK than Greenland this weekend where it may not drop below zero over Saturday and Sunday.

Met Office forecaster Alex Deakin said: "Showers feeding in from the North Sea across eastern parts of England so we could see some icy conditions here and there is a Met Office yellow warning in place.

"That weather front in the west also bringing a mixture of rain, sleet and some hill snow to parts of Wales and later in the night south west England.

Temperatures could drop as low as -5C on Saturday morning (PA)

"It is going to be cold and frosty for many with temperatures even in towns and cities down below freezing, rural spots across northern England maybe -5C and similar conditions where the snow is lying on the ground in Scotland, so a cold and frosty start to the weekend."

The icy weather comes after the UK experienced its sunniest March since 1929.

Northern Ireland basked in 90% more sunshine than average for the month, with a total of 192.5 hours of sun and Scotland saw 64% more sun than usual, with a total of 160.1 hours.

The bright outlook was replicated across the UK, with England seeing its second sunniest March at 168.1 hours and Wales its fifth sunniest with 157.9 hours.

Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud said overnight temperatures going into Saturday would be several degrees colder than the average for the time of year.

Mr Stroud said the wintry weather will continue through the weekend but along with the cold there will be sunshine.

He said: "It's generally dry and cold, if not slightly less cold than we have had for the next few days.

"We've got an Arctic air flow established at the moment, that's coming from a cold source.

"So we've basically got cold, clear air established across the UK. There's also a lot of clear and sunny skies, especially to the western parts of the UK."

Mr Stroud said temperatures should climb from around 10C averages over the weekend to around 14C on Monday as the Arctic air system moves away.

UK forecast for the next 5 days

Sunny intervals and showers. Less windy and cold.

Today:

Rather cloudy with showers in the west with some wintriness likely, mainly for high ground of Wales and the southwest before clearing later. Otherwise a cold and frosty start followed by sunny spells and scattered showers. Less windy than recently.

Tonight:

Showers soon dying out from all but the far NE to leave largely clear skies and a cold and frosty night. Some shallow fog patches may develop by dawn.

Sunday:

Showers in the far north turning into more persistent rain by midday, this then extending to all of Scotland and Northern Ireland by evening. Isolated showers and sunny intervals elsewhere.

Outlook for Monday to Wednesday:

A generally cloudy, unsettled period for most, although milder than recently. Most persistent rain for northern and western areas, with some of this turning to snow over high ground.

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