A new Beast from the East could smash back into the UK that will trigger a sub-zero deep freeze and bring about the unwelcome return of two weeks of snow, according to the latest weather maps from WXCHARTS. This morning, the map turned icy blue in Scotland and northeast England, with the mercury plunging to a low of -9C north of the border. That deep freeze continues into this evening as the icy blue trends spread throughout the UK, with possible sub-zero temperatures across Scotland and down to freezing in northern regions of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
There are lows of -2C forecast for Central Scotland on Friday evening with the mercury plunging to near freezing in north east England. A huge icy blue patch engulfs Scotland in the early hours of Sunday, with widespread lows of just -4C across many areas.
Minimum temperatures will hover just above freezing over the following few days before another icy blue patch appears on the weather map next Wednesday, showing much of the country could struggle to get above 0C.
But much worse is to come, with the latest weather maps showing temperatures could plunge to as low as -8C in a large region of Scotland on January 14, with the rest of Britain again waking up to freezing conditions.
The latest weather maps also show huge areas of Scotland buried in 10cm of snow before a huge icy white patch appears tomorrow, forecasting up to 13cm of snow in central and eastern regions.
Torrential rain from the Atlantic then sweeps in before snow returns on Wednesday afternoon, with up to 10cm forecast in northeast Scotland.
The threat of snow continues into next weekend before a swathe of Scotland again turns icy white on the weather map, with 5cm set to fall in central areas.
The snow will worsen substantially over the following 48 hours, with a massive 23cm forecast in the same central region heading into the early hours of next Monday.
This Arctic-like conditions continue throughout the course of the following week, with the weather map for Scotland turning icy white as snow fall hits double centimetre figures.
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“Winds could gust up to 60mph in western coastal counties and parts of the north on some days.
“Friday may bring a brief respite as a ridge of high pressure topples over the UK, but it looks like things go downhill again this weekend as the jet stream fires up again and weather systems power back in from the Atlantic.
“The combination of cloud, wind and rain will often make it feel unpleasant even in the south despite the temperatures. Unfortunately it’s currently looking like more of the same next week.”
Exacta Weather forecaster James Madden told the Daily Star: “A Sudden Stratospheric Warming event is now looking even more likely to occur this winter and this could happen as soon as in the next 10 days or so.
“This will mean that the cold air over the Arctic will be given a route to cross our shores. If an SSW does set in icy weather could hit Brits around the middle of January.
British Weather Services’ Jim Dale warned a big freeze was “not something that I will rule out”.
He said: “At the moment I am favouring a more mobile weather pattern from the Atlantic. Instead of a big snow event we may be more likely to see a named storm during the start of 2023.
“However that does not mean it is not going to happen. If it does it will be more likely to affect northern parts of the country.”