Thought we were over the worst of the blustery, icy winter weather? Think again. Weather forecasters are predicting that parts of the UK could see extremely cold temperatures and even snow over the next few weeks.
The Met Office has said that a ‘sudden stratospheric warming’ (SSW) event could be on the way. While the ‘warming’ happens in the atmosphere, it can cause extreme weather down below such as extremely cold temperatures and snow. A spokesperson for the Met Office told The Independent that there’s an 80 percent chance of an SSW taking place in either late February or early March.
As it stands, some forecasters are predicting that parts of the UK could see lows of -7C and up to 15 centimetres of snow. The cold weather could arrive on or around next Tuesday (February 21).
The OG ‘Beast from the East’, for those that don’t remember, happened in February 2018. Properly named Anticyclone Hartmut, it caused ten days of abnormally cold weather throughout the UK and culminated in 70mph winds and some areas reaching lows of -11C. On top of that, 17 died as a result of the cold weather and the chill caused £1.2 billion worth of damage.
Right now, however, we’re apparently in the middle of a mini-heatwave. Some parts of the UK this week have hits highs of 15C. In February! Nuts, we know.
Exactly where will be affected by the SSW (and how badly) isn’t yet known. We’ll keep you updated as we find out more – in the meantime, you can check the Met Office website here for ongoing updates.
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