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The Met Office has issued its first snow warning of the winter, as Britain is expected to face icy temperatures this week.
A yellow weather warning for snow has been issued for northern Scotland on Wednesday, with snow showers likely to disrupt travel.
Snow may also fall in parts of Northern Ireland and north-east England, with the coldest temperatures expected from Wednesday. Much of the UK is expected to stay above freezing during the day and drop below overnight.
“It will continue to be cold with more rain across much of the UK, falling in the north as sleet and sleet leading to some accumulations of snow on higher ground,” the Met Office said. “There is a higher chance of rain or drizzle in parts of the south.”
Forecasts suggest “good and dry weather with occasional sunny spells in the south, but some heavy overnight snow showers are expected”. However, temperatures are expected to remain cold or very cold across the UK next week.
The weather warning for Scotland says 2-5cm of snow could fall on low-lying ground, rising to 5-10cm above 200m. The warning said some drifting and blizzard conditions are possible in strong northerly winds.
The warning covers Central, Tayside and Fife, Grampians, Highlands and Elaine Sea and Orkney and Shetland.
From Wednesday, daytime temperatures are expected to be as low as 2C, dropping to -3C overnight on Thursday, amid a cold snap from low pressure in Norway.
The forecast for the rest of the month suggests that the weather could be warmer, but with wet and windy conditions to the south and west.
“The north and east are most likely to have prolonged periods of cold weather,” the Met Office forecast. “Any transition between colder and milder conditions will bring a risk of rain, especially with sleet and snow over the hills.”
The UK will need a near-record cold December to avoid 2022 being the hottest year on record. Provisional figures from the Met Office show that autumn (September, October and November) was the third warmest on record for the UK, with an average mean temperature of 11.1C.
Every month of November 2022 was warmer than average, with the first 11 months of the year being the warmest on record for the UK.
Mike Candon, of the National Climate Information Centre, said: “Although it is too early to guarantee that 2022 will be the UK’s warmest year, the first 11 months have established a distinct possibility of a record-breaking warm year, with only a very cold December potentially able to influence is where the year will finally sit in the record books.
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