UK starts to feel the Arctic chill by Jay Wynne
The UK is bracing itself for the first winter chill of the season. Over the next 24 hours, a blast of cold air from the Arctic will sweep southwards across the country, bringing a significant wind chill for all, and a spell of snow for some.
The cold air has already been making its presence felt across Shetland and Orkney on Thursday morning, with showers turning increasingly to snow here. The wind is making it feel especially bitter, with northerly winds gusting up to 70mph. So despite a temperature of 4C (39F), when you add in the effect of the wind, it feels more like -10C or less!
The rest of the UK is still in the milder air at the moment, but as a band of rain slips southwards, the colder air will swiftly make chase, with snow arriving across Northern Ireland and North Wales by evening time.
Overnight, the whole of the UK will be bathed in the much colder air with a widespread frost expected. By dawn tomorrow, there could be up to 25cm (10 inches) of snow over higher parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, and 20cm (8 inches) across the moors of southwest England.
With strong northerly winds too, there could be blizzard conditions at times across the hills and mountains, and any lying snow is likely to drift.
For the rest of the country, there will be the risk of a few wintry showers, but the bitter wind will be the prominent feature in the current cold snap.
The cold conditions will continue through the day on Friday, but it will gradually turn less cold through the weekend, with any snow becoming restricted largely to the hills.
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