The UK is set to celebrate the new year with a polar weather front. (Image: Getty/WXCharts.com)
Britain is set for a freezing start to January as an ushers more than
is set to see much of Britain see temperatures below freezing, with the possibility of snow not being ruled out.
Newly released data from WXCharts.com shows that a polar blast could hit much of the north of England and Scotland, causing temperatures to fall as low as minus 7 in some parts.
According to one map that shows Britain is completely covered by , the possibility of snow is around 50/50, with the whole country in scope for the cold weather, and Scotland is the most likely.
In another map, data suggests that the southwest and could be hit by as much as 5cm of snow per hour, with parts of Scotland predicted to be hit by as much as eight.
:
The whole of the UK will be covered in the icy weather front. (Image: WXCharts.com)
The weather will drift southwards and land from the early hours of the new year, drifting southwards through the UK as the day progresses.
If snow does fall in the south of the UK, it will do so from around 6 p.m. on
has somewhat moved to temper expectations, with no mention of snow in their long-range forecast.
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The UK is set to be cold this new year, with temperatures as low as minus 7 in some parts. (Image: WXCharts.com)
The south might not escape as it could also be hit by snow on January 1. (Image: WXCharts.com)
In the 24 December to 2 January forecast, they said: “Later on, it may become settled in the northwest too, but confidence in the position of the north/south boundary between settled and unsettled steadily lowers through the period.
“Becoming widely mild, perhaps exceptionally so in some places, but also often fairly cloudy, although clearer spells overnight may lead to localised frost and fog.”
The agency has refused to rule out wintry conditions in the days following 1 January as they predict: “More unsettled further north, with the majority of periods of rain and stronger winds affecting this region, especially northwest Scotland.
“Whilst colder, brighter, and potentially wintry spells cannot be ruled out, particularly early in the period, overall temperatures have a greater than normal chance of being above average.”
Counties affected
England
Cumberland
Northumberland
Durham
Westmorland
Lancashire
Yorkshire
Lincolnshire
Derbyshire
Nottinghamshire
Leicestershire
Nottinghamshire
Warwickshire
Norfolk
Suffolk
Essex
Kent
Somerset
Oxfordshire
Cheshire
Staffordshire
Worcestershire
Gloucestershire
Herefordshire
Shropshire
Cambridgeshire
Huntingdonshire
Bedfordshire
Buckinghamshire
Scotland
Caithness
Ross-shire
Cromartyshire
Nairnshire
Morayshire
Banffshire
Inverness-shire
Aberdeenshire
Argyllshire
Perthshire
Angus
Kincardineshire
Kinrossshire
Clackmanshire
Stirlingshire
Fife
Stirlingshire
Dumbarton
Renfrewshire
West Lothian
Lanarkshire
Midlothian
East Lothian
Peeblesshire
Lanarkshire
Buteshire
Ayrshire
Dumfriesshire
Selkirkshire
Berwickshire
Roxburghshire
Dumfriesshire
Kirkcudbrightshire
Wigtownshire
Wales
Anglesey
Caernarfonshire
Denbighshire
Flintshire
Merioneth
Montgomeryshire
Cardiganshire
Pembrokeshire
Carmarthenshire
Glamorgan
Monmouthshire
Brecknockshire
Radnorshire
Northern Ireland
Antrim
Armagh
Down
Fermanagh
Londonderry
Tyrone