Weather and climate change

Headline:

Turning wet in the south, hill snow in the north.

Today:

Persistent rain across the south during the morning which slowly moves northwards. Further rain and snow on hill in the northeast of Scotland. Cloudy but mostly dry in between these systems. Clearer conditions in the southwest later with heavy showers.

Tonight:

Rain continues to move northwards, turning to snow on higher hill on Wales, the Pennines and eastern Scotland. Windy in the north and rather cold. Clearer further south with showers.

Wednesday:

Rain and hill snow becomes confined to the north where it is still windy in the northeast. Drier further south with some brighter spells. Temperatures mild here, cold further north.

Outlook for Thursday to Saturday:

Staying unsettled through the week with further outbreaks of cloud and rain. Brief bright spells in places with more hill snow expected across northern parts later.

Updated: 04:00 (UTC) on Tue 3 Feb 2026

Frontal systems over the Atlantic, steered by a south-shifted jet stream, are likely to approach the UK at times, but tending to stall as they encounter a blocking area of high pressure to the north and northeast. This will result in further spells of rain at times, falling in areas already sensitive to flooding. As these bands of rain spread northwards, some snow will be possible in northern England and Scotland, mainly over higher ground, as they encounter colder air. A subtle shift southwards of these areas of low pressure is anticipated during the second week of February, which may allow a greater chance of colder air to spread across larger parts of the UK at times, including the south, bringing an increased risk of wintry hazards.

Updated: 14:00 (UTC) on Mon 2 Feb 2026

Whilst confidence is inevitably low through this period, a south-shifted jet stream is likely to persist for much of the time, steering areas of low pressure towards and south of the UK. This is likely to bring further spells of wet and windy weather, with rain most frequent in the south and west, and perhaps also eastern Scotland, with the driest conditions, relative to normal, in northwest Scotland. Some hill snow will be possible at times as the wet weather encounters colder air across northern parts of the UK. There is a hint that storm systems may start to track a little further north by March though. Temperatures overall will likely be close to average for most parts, but perhaps a little below in the northeast at first.

Updated: 15:00 (UTC) on Mon 2 Feb 2026