A white Boxing Day?
Winter is set to return with a vengeance in a flurry of ice and snow
HOPES for a White Christmas may have been blown off course, but watch out – winter is set to bite back with a vengeance today.
While many will delight as they wake to snowy scenes with plenty of sunshine, commuters and those heading for the Boxing Day sales could face morning travel chaos amid warnings of widespread ice.
The Met Office has issued a yellow ‘be aware’ weather warning for the risk of ice and snow across almost all inland areas of mainland Scotland as skies cleared of rain overnight, ushering in colder air and plummeting temperatures. Some roads and railways may be affected by longer journey times, with icy surfaces leading to the increased risk of slips and falls on roads, pavements and cycle paths.
The warning, which remains in force until 11am this morning, also flags up the chance of some wintry showers overnight on higher ground, although most of it is likely to fall after midnight and in areas which are too remote to be measured, meaning that it cannot count with bookmakers as Christmas snow.
Any snow that did fall last night was expected to be confined mainly to hilltop areas of the Southern Uplands and the mountains of the North-West Highlands. Up to 4in (10cm) of snow were predicted to fall on the highest ground, with a smattering on low levels. Combined with the icy temperatures, the sudden wintry blast could lead to treacherous driving conditions.
Forecaster Marco Petagna of the Met Office said: ‘There will be showers in the North and a bit of wind. Although the warning of snow and ice ends at 11am, you could still continue to see wintry showers coming down from the North.
‘Elsewhere, if you wrap up warm, you should see lots of sunshine in the Central Belt and Southern Scotland during Boxing Day. It will still be very cold, with the temperature hovering between 2C and 5C (35-41F).’
A second Met Office yellow warning, this time for rain and snow across Wales and Central and Southern England, is in place for the same period. The sudden drop in temperatures will come too late for punters to cash in on last-minute bets for a White Christmas. For years, Christmas was declared ‘white’ if a single flake of snow was observed by a professional meteorologist at the London Weather Centre.
The Met Office has now broadened its definition to extend to other parts of the country, although the snow still has to be recorded by a professional.