Spring? Here comes the snow again
SNOW could return to the UK this week as temperatures are set to drop, forecasters have warned.
With bookies slashing odds on snow to fall this month, the Met Office said that the Lake District, the Pennines and the Highlands are most at risk.
After the country bathed in sunshine last week, with temperatures hitting record figures, the hot spell will turn cold, with winter flurries predicted for higher ground.
“Towards the end of the week it is certainly possible that the cold weather will include hail, sleet showers and snow, especially on higher ground,” said Met Office meteorologist John West. “The areas most at risk are the Lake District, North Pennines and Scottish Highlands, but we are not expecting a big impact.”
He said May will start with unsettled weather, although it should not be a particularly wet month.
Last week it looked like Britain had bypassed spring and gone straight to high summer.
Thursday was the hottest April day for nearly 70 years with a temperature of 84.4F (29.1C) recorded in St James’s Park in central London. The heatwave was a result of warm air moving up from the Azores in the south.
Parts of Britain outshone popular holiday hotspots like Larnaca in Cyprus, the Greek capital Athens and Nice in the south of France.
The cold weather in February and March could have cast a chill over the economy.
Gross domestic product in the first quarter of the year could be cut in half from 0.4 per cent in the previous quarter, warned the EY Item Club.