The Met Office has said that snow is on the way - and is set to probably arrive next week. The forecaster in conjunction with the UK Health Security Agency this morning released an update on incoming cold weather.
And although it qualifies the notice with the rider that it is still too early to be exact, the update predicts ‘sleet and snow’. It also adds that temperatures are set to plunge low enough to meet ‘low impact threshold’ meaning some travel disruption and also that there could be health issues related to the cold.
The next five days are not a cause for concern, being described as mild, with bands of rain and strong winds. However from next Wednesday it will change in the north and by Friday the cold will also reach the south, bringing the possibility of snow. It said: “Colder conditions may gradually move south later next week, with a risk of sleet and snow. Temperatures possibly falling below average in the north from mid-week and in the south later in the week. The following week may stay colder than average with more settled conditions expected. There is a chance of reaching at least Low impact threshold temperatures.”
The probability of average temperatures of 2°C or below for 48 hours or more are up to 40 per cent for this period.
Meanwhile Norwegian authorities issued several warnings for landslides and avalanches in southern Norway on Friday as bad weather continued to hammer the Scandinavian country. In the northern part of the country, officials said roads might be closed at short notice.
Flights to and from the airport in Tromso, a city in the Arctic, resumed on Friday after some 200 passengers had to sleep there because of Norway’s most powerful storm since 1992. The Norwegian Meteorological Institute said strong winds were still blowing over northern Norway and warned that rain was expected in the southern part of the country with up to 100 mm (four inches) within 24 hours.
The Norwegian water resources and energy directorate issued its highest avalanche warnings for most of southern and central Norway for the coming days. The storm, named Ingunn by Norwegian meteorologists, brought gusts of up to 112 mph in some places.
