A new ‘Beast from the East’ could bury much of the UK in a dense snowdrift, weather maps suggest, with a massive new system potentially making landfall in just over a week.
Brits have recently emerged from the other side of a bitter cold spell that held the country in sub-zero temperatures for days on end, plunging the mercury below -10C for the first time this year, according to the Met Office.
While the country has warmed up in recent days, recent maps have suggested the comparative warmth may not last for too long. The latest outlook from WXCharts, a meteorological service that takes data from MetDesk, shows a mass of snow descending on the UK from the east.
UK snow maps show exact date 1,000km BLIZZARD will bring 17cm this month
Snow hitting the UK from the east at 6am on January 26
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Image:
WXCharts)
Maps also identify several major locations that face the heaviest snowfall, with some seeing up to 2cm of snow settling per hour over two days. The latest charts show snow rolling over the east coast from January 26. The worst of the initial snow, which starts at around 6am, will settle over high ground, in the Cairngorms national park and to the west of Dundee.
Snow across Europe on January 27
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Image:
WXCharts)
Those two areas are set for around 2cm of snow per hour, while the rest of Scotland, from Edinburgh to Wick, are likely to see less, around 0.3cm to 0.5cm. Northern England looks likely to see the most snow below the border, with Newcastle, the North Pennines National Landscape, Yorkshire Dales and North Moors set for around 2cm.
Snow is expected to stretch across a massive chunk of the country on January 26 and January 27, with maps showing coverage from the far north of Scotland down to Essex. Snow depth could reach 15cm (six inches) over the North Pennines, with 10cm over the Cairngorms.
Snow depth (cm) at 6am on January 27
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Image:
WXCharts)
Once again, the charts show relatively little snowfall elsewhere, between 1cm and 4cm over lower ground, and hail in isolated patches in the west coast of Wales. While the snow is relatively light in most parts of the country, the entire area covered spans several hundred miles.