THE Met Office is warning of more snow after Cheltenham was hit with wintry showers and temperatures plummeted to -5C.
Many Brits are waking up to a blanket of frost as the early spring big chill continues after ice, hail and snow caused mayhem yesterday.
Traffic battles through a blizzard near Aviemore in Scotland[/caption]
Snow falls as a horse and jockey warm up on the gallops at Cheltenham Festival yesterday[/caption]
Meteorologist Honor Criswick said: “A chilly day ahead… still plenty of showers feeding in from the North Sea coasts.
“The odd one could be heavy and still bringing in some snow across hills for the Scottish Highlands, the Pennines, even later on across parts of the Welsh hills.”
In between the rain there will be “plenty of bright and sunny spells”, with the wind not forecast to be as fierce as earlier in the week, she added.
This means it won’t feel as cold but temperatures remain below average for the time of year, with highs of 9C in the South.
The Environment Agency has issued one flood warning and 26 alerts for England.
It comes after Sennybridge in Wales saw the mercury plunge to a freezing -5C overnight into Friday.
It followed on the heels of a yellow warning for ice yesterday across parts of northern England.
Cheltenham Racecourse, meanwhile, was covered in snow on Thursday just three days after highs of 18C.
This is commonly called a “fool’s spring”, a phenomenon where a period of warm weather is quickly followed by a cold snap.
Ms Criswick went on to say Friday will see “another cold and frosty night” before there is a “flip” with the clearer skies moving further up north.
Saturday looks much the same, though slightly less chilly and unsettled.
The meteorologist said: “Temperatures fairly similar, perhaps a notch higher in some places, highs of around 9 to 10C.”
She added: “We have high pressure sticking around on Sunday, so still once again largely dry, but we do still remain in this cold pool of air, so it is going to be remaining fairly chilly, still with a chance of some patchy frost.
“Then this area of high pressure as we head into next week… it shifts its way eastwards, but that does allow a change in wind direction, so rather than getting our winds from the north, we start to see a bit more of a southerly flow, so something milder coming in as we head into next week.”
UK 5 day weather forecast
Today:
Early showery rain quickly in the west clearing southwards, leaving another day of sunshine and showers, these again perhaps wintry on the hills in the north. Turning drier later from the west, but feeling chilly once again.
Tonight:
Any showers gradually easing through the evening to leave a mostly dry night. Turning chilly underneath the clearest skies with a touch of frost and some fog patches developing.
Saturday:
Any early mist and fog soon clearing to leave a drier day compared to Friday with a mixture of sunny spells and a few, mainly light, showers. Generally light winds.
Outlook for Sunday to Tuesday:
Cloudier on Sunday and Monday with a few showers mixed with brighter interludes. Brighter but breezier on Tuesday with plenty of lengthy sunny spells. Chilly by night with frost patches.
