New Year snowstorm to trigger week of ‘extreme cold’ as Britain hit by -10C freeze

Up to a foot of snow threatens to blanket parts of the country through today with another Arctic deluge forecast at the weekend.

A raft of Met Office warnings for disruption from snow, ice and sub-zero gales are in force through the next 48 hours.

Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said: “Things are set to turn even colder as we go into the new year, with some snow in parts, and areas exposed to the northerly wind will have the most frequent showers.

“Cold air plunging across the country means temperatures on Friday will be colder with northerly gales in exposed spots of northern and eastern Scotland and some strong winds down the north sea coast of England.

“This weekend, the cold weather sticks with us and it is going to feel colder meaning we are going to see some widespread harsh frosts, and the risk of snow showers continues mainly in the north, although we can’t rule out a bit of snow further south.”

A freak blast from the Irish sea could trigger a torrent of snow along the west coast of Wales and the West Country.

The ‘Pembrokeshire Dangler’, driven by moist winds moving in bands of heavy showers, could drive the big freeze further south, Burkill warned.

He said: “South-west England could see a few showers building up with perhaps a Pembrokeshire dangler developing as well, but also down eastern parts there could be some showers.

“Strong winds to the north will strengthen, and as we go into Friday, that front is going to clear away to the south and we are going to end up in a brisk northerly flow.

“Areas exposed to this will continue to see those showers, and we will continue to see those showers and why we will see snow levels building up across parts of Scotland in particular.”

Long-range experts warn Britain is stuck in the deep freeze until at least the second week of January.

As cold air wedges over the country, any mild gusts from the coast will lead to further snowfall.

A ‘battle’ between high pressure and frigid Polar winds will dictate when the cold snap eases.

Jim Dale, meteorologist for British Weather Services and co-author of ‘Surviving Extreme Weather’, said: “In the immediate forecast, we are looking at blizzard conditions over Scotland and exposed regions of the north where snow falls as winds pick up.

“The cold is then going to stay in situ through the start of the month, and there is as yet nothing to show this shifting back to a milder, westerly regime.

“There is a battle going on between high pressure coming back in and the cold that is already in place, and if the cold wins, then we will get another blast of wintry weather during the second weekend of the month.”