After Kent saw its first snowfall of 2025 over the weekend, more wintery showers are forecast very soon, prompting a yellow weather warning for snow. Beginning at 9am tomorrow (Wednesday, January 8), the alert covers the entire county and will remain in effect until 11.59pm that night.
January has already brought about persistent freezing temperatures and now the mercury is expected to once again sink below 0C overnight and into Wednesday morning. Current forecasts from the Met Office predict lows of -4C in the south east region during the early hours, combining with generally clear conditions to bring about widespread frost in the morning.
A cold weather system may then push snow into the southern counties over the course of the day, though for coastal regions rain showers and sleet are looking more likely. Where snow does fall, the warning advises that there is a chance for power cuts, travel disruption and small, rural communities being cut off – particularly in upland areas.
Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist, Mike Silverstone, explained: “There is a chance of a further spell of rain, sleet and snow moving in from the southwest on Wednesday to affect some southern parts of the UK. Whilst not all those in the warning area may be affected, it is possible that that 2-5 cm of snow may accumulate fairly widely.
The yellow weather warning will be in place from 9am to 11.59pm on Wednesday, January 8
(Image: Met Office)
“Whether this system will brush the south of the UK or miss us altogether still remains a little uncertain, but we’ll continue to assess this over the next day or two. Weather warnings may well be updated, so it’s important people stay up to date with the forecast.”
The latest weather maps show patchy showers breaking out over Kent from the mid afternoon and into the evening. Between 3pm and 5pm, these are looking to turn wintery in various parts of the county, including Canterbury, Ashford and Tunbridge Wells where sleet or snow could fall.
KentLive has put together full hour-by-hour forecasts for Wednesday using Met Office and BBC Weather data, looking at how the weather will develop in key areas such as Thanet, Medway and Tunbridge Wells. See below for the full details.
Kent hour-by-hour forecasts, Wednesday, January 8
Kent will see wintery showers during the afternoon and early evening (Pictured: Met Office weather map for 5pm on Wednesday, January 8)
(Image: Met Office)
Ashford
6am: Clear sky, light winds, -1C
7am: Clear sky, light winds, -1C
8am: Sunny intervals, light winds, -1C
9am: Sunny intervals, light winds, -1C
10am: Sunny intervals, light winds, 0C
11am: Sunny intervals, light winds, 1C
12pm: Light cloud and light wind, 3C
1pm: Light cloud and light wind, 3C
2pm: Light rain and winds, 3C
3pm: Light rain and winds, 3C
4pm: Light rain and winds, 2C
5pm: Light rain and winds, 2C
6pm: Sleet and light winds, 1C
7pm: Sleet and light winds, 2C
8pm: Sleet and light winds, 2C
9pm: Light rain and winds, 2C
10pm: Light rain and winds, 2C
11pm: Light rain and winds, 2C
Canterbury
6am: Clear sky, light winds, -1C
7am: Clear sky, light winds, -1C
8am: Sunny and light winds, -1C
9am: Sunny intervals and light winds, -1C
10am: Sunny intervals and light winds, 1C
11am: Sunny intervals and light winds, 1C
12pm: Light cloud and winds, 2C
1pm: Light cloud and winds, 3C
2pm: Light cloud and winds, 3C
3pm: Light cloud and winds, 3C
4pm: Light rain and winds, 3C
5pm: Light rain and winds, 2C
6pm: Sleet and light winds, 2C
7pm: Sleet and light winds, 2C
8pm: Sleet and light winds, 2C
9pm: Sleet and light winds, 2C
10pm: Drizzle and light winds, 2C
11pm: Drizzle and light winds, 2C
Medway
6am: Clear sky, light winds, 0C
7am: Clear sky, light winds, -1C
8am: Partly cloudy, light winds, -1C
9am: Sunny intervals, light winds, 0C
10am: Sunny intervals, light winds, 1C
11am: Sunny intervals, light winds, 1C
12pm: Sunny intervals, light winds, 2C
1pm: Light cloud, light winds, 2C
2pm: Light cloud, light winds, 3C
3pm: Light cloud, light winds, 3C
4pm: Light rain, light winds, 3C
5pm: Light rain, light winds, 3C
6pm: Light rain, light winds, 3C
7pm: Light rain, light winds, 3C
8pm: Light rain showers, light winds, 3C
9pm: Light rain, light winds, 3C
10pm: Drizzle, light winds, 2C
11pm: Light cloud, light winds 2C
Tunbridge Wells
6am: Partly cloudy, light winds, -1C
7am: Partly cloudy, light winds, -1C
8am: Partly cloudy, light winds, -1C
9am: Light cloud, light winds, 0C
10am: Sunny intervals, light winds, 0C
11am: Sunny intervals, light winds, 1C
12pm: Light cloud, light winds, 2C
1pm: Light cloud, light winds, 2C
2pm: Sleet, light winds, 2C
3pm: Sleet, light winds, 2C
4pm: Sleet, light winds, 2C
5pm: Sleet, light winds, 2C
6pm: Sleet, light winds, 2C
7pm: Sleet, light winds, 2C
8pm: Sleet, light winds, 2C
9pm: Sleet, light winds, 2C
10pm: Sleet, light winds, 2C
11pm: Thick cloud, light winds, 2C
Thanet
6am: Clear sky, gentle breeze, 2C
7am: Clear sky, gentle breeze, 2C
8am: Sunny, light winds, 2C
9am: Sunny intervals, 2C
10am: Sunny intervals, 2C
11am: Sunny intervals, 3C
12pm: Light cloud, light winds, 3C
1pm: Light cloud, light winds, 4C
2pm: Light cloud, light winds, 4C
3pm: Light cloud, light winds, 4C
4pm: Light rain, gentle breeze, 4C
5pm: Light rain, gentle breeze, 4C
6pm: Light rain, gentle breeze, 4C
7pm: Light rain, gentle breeze, 4C
8pm: Light rain, gentle breeze, 4C
9pm: Light rain, gentle breeze, 4C
10pm: Light rain, gentle breeze, 4C
11pm: Light rain, gentle breeze, 4C