A real north/south split in the weather across Britain and Ireland today with very cold air pushing down from the north whilst much milder air is trying to move up from the southwest. Separating these air masses is a trailing frontal system which will bring some potentially large falls of snow to some central regions whilst areas towards the south and southeast end up wet and windy. Meanwhile the north will be mostly fine apart from a few coastal showers.
Let's start with the straightforward part of the forecast and this is for much of Scotland, Northern Ireland and the far north of England where it will be a cold and very frosty start but there will be plenty of sunshine around in these areas today with just a few wintry showers around the coasts. It will be cold though with temperatures struggling to climb above freezing over inland regions.
Further south and it's a complex situation. We have a band of heavy rain pushing up from the southwest and as this rain meets the cold air along its northern boundary so it is readily turning to snow and for parts of Ireland, central and north Wales across into the Midlands there will be some heavy snow around today with some areas potentially seeing 10 cm or more which will bring the risk of disruption and hazardous travelling conditions. Further to the south somewhat milder air moving in means that it will be rain that's falling across southern counties of England before drier but very windy conditions develop by this afternoon with a risk of gales developing along the south coast. Temperatures will vary considerably, hovering around freezing in the snowy areas but climbing to as high as 11°C in the far southwest.
The rain and snow band will tend to ease this evening and into tonight as it slips slowly south. The far south will remain milder, but for many places another cold night is on the cards with a widespread, sharp frost forming along with some icy surfaces. Wintry showers will continue in the north and this cold, showery weather dominates for the start of the new working week before somewhat milder conditions develop by midweek.
METEOROLOGIST: BARBER
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