Top temperatures across the UK are projected to plummet from last week’s highs of 20 C to a maximum of 10 C this weekend as a result of Arctic winds bringing below-average temperatures condition for the second week of spring. West Yorkshire woke up to a deep blanket of snow after several hours of snowfall overnight, although Manchester and Durham also saw significant shifts and some slight turbulence was observed in the southeast East Midlands and East Anglia. Temperatures plunged below freezing Wednesday night through Thursday morning, with some councils such as Newcastle City issuing emergency protocols to deal with the sudden change, including services that help people get a good night’s sleep. A yellow warning for the Met Office weather, which covered much of eastern Scotland, the north-east of England and Yorkshire until 10 a.m. on Thursday, he said that “snow and hail could lead to icy surfaces, with a possible interruption of travel”, with possible snowfall affecting roads at high altitudes. Met Office spokeswoman Nicola Maxey said any of the thunderstorms across eastern England and Scotland on Thursday could turn into snow, with a chance of 1-2cm of snow in places. “Any snow that accumulates will not last long at this time of year, because the ground is warm enough,” he said. Extensive frost is forecast for Thursday afternoon and the Meteorological Service has issued a yellow alert for the risk of ice and possibly snow on Friday morning in areas of Kent, Sussex, Suffolk, Essex and the East of England. Meteorologist Matty Box said there was currently a “cold air mass” over the UK. He added that there would be a similar chance of heavy snow, rain and snowfall in the east and north of the UK on Thursday night and also on Friday morning. The weather is expected to gradually improve over the weekend, with “plenty of sunshine” and some sunny periods, Box said. “Thunderstorms will become less frequent, but there will still be chances of some winter rains on the east coast and the North Sea coast, especially until Saturday.” Maxey said the contrast of the weather last week was not uncommon for spring and was caused by a shift in pressure and allowing the cold Arctic air to push south across the country. As there is moisture in the air, it can fall like snow. “Spring is a transition period from winter to summer, so to have changes in temperature and type of weather, you can very easily go from warm sunny periods to colder invasions with a little snow and frost,” he said.
