Up to 20cm of snow expected in parts of UK in ‘first taste of winter’

Up to 20cm of snow could hit the UK over the coming days in the country’s “first taste of winter”, the Met Office has said.

The forecaster has issued several yellow weather warnings for snow and ice for parts of the UK between 4pm on Sunday and 10am Tuesday morning.

Throughout the warning periods, there is a chance of power cuts, disruption to road and public transport and the risk of injury from slipping on ice, the weather service added.

Sunday’s alert covers parts of northern Scotland, including Orkney and Shetland, where up to 10cm of snow may accumulate on higher ground by Monday morning, the Met Office said.

On Monday, the warning covers areas in the East Midlands, Yorkshire, Wales and north of England overnight from 7pm and into Tuesday morning, where up to 20cm of snow could fall on high ground.

Tom Morgan, Met Office meteorologist, said that despite a “mild” start to the month, the upcoming conditions are more typical of “mid-winter to late-winter”.

He said: “What we can say is that it’s going to be very cold for the for the time of year, there will be widespread overnight frosts, and a few locations where there’s snow on the ground.

“In the North could even see overnight minimums down to minus eight, possibly even minus 10 degrees, so quite unusual for November.”

“It’s quite an early blast of winter,” he added.

Mr Morgan said the public can best prepare for the wintry weather by checking their cars are suitable for icy and potentially snowy conditions and to take extra supplies including food, blankets and a fully charged mobile phone with them on journeys.

Despite the cold conditions, the “whole of the UK” will enjoy more sunshine next week, the meteorologist added.

He said: “That’s one good piece of news.

“We’ve lost the grey, gloomy conditions, or at least we will have by Tuesday, that we’ve seen so far this month, and there’ll be a lot of sunshine really.

“Yes, there’ll be some snow showers in the peripheries of the UK, particularly northern Scotland, and down the east and the west coast, but if you live inland and you live in the south, there’ll be lots of sparkly blue skies on most days through Tuesday to Friday.”