Weather and climate change

Headline:

Very cold tonight with further snow and ice in places.

This Evening and Tonight:

Snow showers continuing for northern Scotland, with wintry showers affecting windward coasts elsewhere. Some patchy snow also moving south across parts of central and southern England and Wales. Otherwise dry, clear and very frosty.

Monday:

Many areas dry and sunny, with wintry showers in the north and coastal areas elsewhere becoming more isolated. Cloud increasing later towards the northwest, with some rain and snow arriving.

Outlook for Tuesday to Thursday:

A band of rain and snow moving erratically eastwards across the UK during Tuesday and Wednesday. Drier initially on Thursday before another spell of rain and snow possibly arrives later.

Updated: 16:00 (UTC) on Sun 4 Jan 2026

A changeable period is expected, with Atlantic frontal systems occasionally affecting the UK, bringing spells of rain, likely preceded by snow in some areas, more especially central, northern and eastern parts. Some significant snowfall is possible in places, particularly on northern hills. These low pressure systems could also bring some strong winds. These will be interspersed with quieter, drier interludes under transient ridges of high pressure, with the potential for frost, and wintry showers along coasts exposed to northerly winds. Temperatures will tend to trend closer to average as the period progresses, mainly in the south, such that the frequency of wintry hazards, especially in the south, may reduce slightly. However, there is a hint late in this period that it may briefly turn widely drier and colder again.

Updated: 14:00 (UTC) on Sun 4 Jan 2026

The outlook through the latter part of January and into the start of February is very uncertain, with no strong indication for any particular weather pattern to dominate. However, a broadly westerly regime seems more likely than not. As such, conditions are most likely to be changeable. Spells of wet, windy and mild weather are likely at times, along with some colder, drier interludes with overnight frost and fog. There is a hint that this period may start off largely dry and cold though. Snow and ice remain possible, especially in central and northern parts of the UK, but the chance of these is generally lower than earlier in January.

Updated: 15:00 (UTC) on Sun 4 Jan 2026