Snow alert as 62 counties blasted by Valentine’s Day Nordic blizzards – check your area

A freezing Nordic blizzard will blast Britain on Valentine’s Day – as our maps reveal exactly which UK counties will suffer a 14th February ice and snow chill.

Dubbed a ‘Scandinavian Freeze’, the sub-zero blast grips the UK on the day Britons often enjoy a sizzling, romantic evening with a loved-one.

Ominous new weather maps from WXCharts.com show the ice-blast will freeze 30 different counties across England, 18 of Wales 22 principle areas and 24 of Scotland’s council areas.

Up to 8cm of snow could hit parts of Scotland, 6cm in North Wales and 5cm of freezing rain will pelt the North-West of England – while temperatures will fall below -1C (30.2F).

The ‘s Aiden McGivern said the Scandinavian high pressure sparking our Nordic blast can be traced back to a storm that hit Hawaii last week.

The looming chill is also linked to fresh icy easterly winds that are set to hit the UK, bringing with them the colder air – although they will not be as bad as the infamous 2018 Beast from the East.

That storm – Anticyclone Hartmut – began on 22nd February 2018 and brought chaos and destruction to the UK, unusually low temperatures and heavy snowfall.

The explain: “The area of high pressure is expected to be centred over Scandinavia throughout next week and toward the middle of the month.

“This pattern leads to a cold, east or southeasterly air-flow across the UK. As mentioned, this will be accompanied by some light rain and hill snow early next week, mainly in the south of the UK, before drier conditions become established later in the week.”

Looking ahead to this weekend Chief Meteorologist, Paul Gundersen, said: “While some areas will see showers or some patchy rain on Friday and through the weekend, there will be the potential for some sleet or snow as temperatures drop, mostly over higher ground in central and southern areas.

“The cold will be accentuated at times by brisk easterly winds.

“There will be variable, and at times large amounts of cloud over the coming days with the clearest and sunniest weather across the northwest of the UK.

“There will also be icy patches and overnight frost in places. Whilst, for most, the weather is not expected to be disruptive, keep an eye on the website for any National Severe Weather Warnings.”

The UK Health Security Agency currently has four yellow ‘cold health’ alerts in England, in the North East, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber and South East – all until 11th February.

However, these maybe updated next week as more details about the predicted temperatures over Valentine’s Day weekend become clearer.

The ‘s forecast from Tuesday 11th February to Thursday 20th says: “High pressure is expected to be slow moving and centred to the northeast of the UK over Scandinavia during this period.

“As a result, east or southeasterly winds will dominate, these bringing cold conditions across the UK from mainland Europe.

“Some light rain and hill snow is likely at first, particularly across the south of the UK. Dry conditions will probably become more prevalent later in this period with some spells of sunshine or clear skies.

“However, there is a continued risk of some wintry precipitation at times, particularly along southern and southwestern areas.

“Temperatures are expected to be below normal during the day with some overnight frost. Brisk winds will exacerbate the cold feel, particularly in the south of the UK.”