Freezing rain, seen here marked in orange, is predicted to hit parts of Scotland soon (Image: WXCharts )
event that is “extremely hazardous for aircraft” is predicted to strike part of Britain later this month, according to new forecast charts.
Freezing rain, which is where liquid precipitation that strikes a cold surface freezes almost instantly, is expected to hit parts of Scotland in the coming days.
in orange on new maps from WXCharts and it’s thought it will arrive in the early hours around 6am on Saturday February 15 in the Scottish Highlands.
The area affected will cover a large part of the Western Isles, from the Isle of Skye down as far south as Fort William in the Highlands.
Freezing rain is particularly damaging for power lines as the moisture instance envelopes cables in a sheet of ice, leading to possible short circuits on the network.
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The wintry conditions will descend on the UK on February 15 (Image: WXCharts )
According to the the conditions needed for freezing rain “are quite specific” and “we don’t see this phenomenon very often in the UK”.
The weather agency added: “It can produce striking effects, as the rain drop spreads out momentarily across the surface before it freezes, encasing the surface in a layer of clear ice.
“However, it is not just these eye-catching scenes which the freezing rain can bring; the weight of the ice can sometimes be heavy enough to bring down trees and power lines, and the glaze of ice on the ground effectively turns roads and pathways into an ice rink.
“The freezing rain can also prove extremely hazardous for aircraft.”
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Explaining the conditions that cause freezing rain, which is more common in places such as the northern United States, the said: Freezing rain tends to start its life as snow, ice, sleet or hail, but passes through a layer of air that’s above 0C on the way down to the ground, melting into a liquid water droplet.
“If these droplets then fall through a zone of sub-zero air just above the ground, they become supercooled.
“When these supercooled droplets strike surfaces that are close to or below freezing, they freeze on impact forming a glaze of ice.”
Met Office five-day forecast
Today:
Mostly dry in England and Wales with sunshine in places once low cloud and fog clears. Staying cloudier with light showers in eastern England. Windy in Scotland and Northern Ireland with coastal gales and occasional rain, heaviest in the northwest.
Tonight:
Periods of heavy rain across Northern Ireland and Scotland, spreading into northern England and west Wales later. Windy for many with coastal gales. Staying dry further south and east. Mild.
Tuesday:
A band of rain moves east across England and Wales, though staying dry in eastern England until the evening. Brighter spells and heavy showers further north. Windy with coastal gales.
Outlook for Wednesday to Friday:
Blustery showers in Scotland on Wednesday, these wintry at times. Otherwise a dry end to the week with some sunshine at times but feeling co