The wall of snow will descend on southern regions on Wednesday afternoon (Image: WXCharts)
Huge swathes of Britain are forecast to be blanketed in again this week as temperatures are set to plummet.
The south coast could be hit especially hard by the brutal blast of stretching out across the English Channel.
According to , south western areas including Birmingham, Plymouth and Southampton will be among the few not hit by a snowy barrage today – Monday, January 6 and tomorrow Tuesday, January 7.
But their exemption from the 300-mile white blanket stretching from northern Scotland to Wales won’t last long – with a sudden flurry of icy weather covering the south coast at around 3pm on Wednesday, January 8.
By 6pm on January 8, around 1cm of snow is forecast to be falling each hour, covering almost all of the UK in white and causing potential disruption across the channel in France, the Netherlands and Germany.
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The icy blast will continue to hit southern areas on Wednesday night (Image: WXCharts)
It will be accompanied by an increase in snow depths in other parts of the UK, with Inverness and the Highlands reaching a maximum of 21cm and parts of the Midlands recording around 12cm.
By midnight, large parts of the south west will be covered in snow, with Plymouth and Southampton facing depths of up to 2cm and flurries continuing to fall at around 0.5 cm per hour in London and across the channel in Lille.
The maps suggest that nowhere in the UK will record temperatures above freezing by Thursday morning – with lows of -8C in Scotland and the mercury hovering around 0C to -1C in London and the south east.
Temperatures will hover below freezing for most of the UK late this week (Image: WXCharts)
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Midday on January 9 will see snow settle across most of the country (Image: WXCharts)
By 12pm on January 9, a pocket of the East Midlands near Peterborough will be the only part of the country not covered in snow, according to WXCharts’ forecasts, with a blanket of white settling across most of the south west.
The ’s 3 to 5 day forecast suggests unsettled weather around the UK, with wintry showers and cold temperatures “most frequent in the north and northwest”.
It also predicts some sunny spells and “a more prolonged period of snow in the south possible on Wednesday” – with an icy spell likely across the country this week.
Met Office’s five day forecast:
Today:
Cold and sunny weather following rain and snow moving eastwards. Coastal gales and wintry showers bringing hail, sleet and snow, especially in the north.
Tonight:
More wintry showers across the north and west, beginning to move into central regions. Frost and ice risk across the whole of the UK.
Tuesday:
Windy coastal weather and frosty in the north. Dry and sunny weather expected in the south.
Outlook for Wednesday to Friday:
Wintry showers accompanied by some sunshine, with settled snow possible in the south from Wednesday.