HEADING FOR A WHITE EASTER?
THE Met Office has warned that snow could fall in some parts of the UK as early as Tuesday, with a white Easter a distinct possibility. Wales and the rest of the country have already faced two blasts of wintry weather, dubbed the Beast from the East 1 and 2.
And just when you might have thought spring could be on the way, a third blast is predicted.
Temperatures are set to plunge as low as -10C in some places, from Good Friday onwards.
The weather is forecast to begin turning early this week, with snow even possible on Tuesday, although only in Scotland.
Met Office forecaster Alex Deakin said: “If you thought spring was imminent, you’re in for a bit of a shock.
“Are we going to see the return of the snowfalls? With it turning so cold then, yes, we are likely to see at least some and it could be on the heavy side.”
Despite temperatures hitting double figures in recent days, a vortex of cold air is set to descend, bringing overnight frosts and temperatures of around 5C.
Fellow Met Office forecaster Aidan McGivern added: “Following two exceptionally cold episodes of weather in March you might be hoping spring has finally arrived.
“Over the next 10 days it will occasionally feel spring-like, with sunny spells and heavy downpours, and with the increasingly strong March sunshine we will also have some mild days.
“But there are now fairly strong signals that temperatures will take a downturn at the end of next week. It’s going to start to feel much colder again heading into the Easter weekend.
“We could even see in some places some Easter snowfall.”
And that might not even be the end of it then, with more cold weather possibly following in the middle of next month.
If there is snow at Easter, and bookmaker Coral is offering odds of 4/5 on snow falling in a major city over the Easter weekend, it is not thought it will be on a scale like that which paralysed large areas of Wales at the start of this month, when red and amber warnings were in place.
Grahame Madge, spokesman for the Met Office, said it was not yet possible to forecast where snow could potentially fall in the UK next weekend.