4in of snow this week

…but not before we’ve enjoyed sun and rising temperatures to rival Spain!

WE all know Britain’s weather is up and down, but the last few days of January will see it at its topsy-turvy best.

After the freezing temperatures of the last week, it’s going to get as warm as Spain.

Some of us might even venture out without a coat as bright sunshine helps temperatures climb to 10C (50F) from today.

But be warned, by the end of this week, you may be building a snowman or cursing traffic chaos caused by an icy whiteout.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather alert ahead of the cold snap with wintry showers expected in northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland on Wednesday and Thursday.

The warning urges drivers to be safe on the roads and to be prepared for possible weather-related delays. Some areas could see snow of up to two inches on low levels and more than four inches on higher ground. By the weekend, temperatures will once again dip below zero.

John Lee, a forecaster at Meteo-Group, said: ‘There is a definite trend for it getting colder as the week goes on. There will be an increased risk of snow towards the end of the week. We will already see wintry showers from Wednesday in some parts of the country.

‘By the weekend there is a risk of snow anywhere. It will definitely be cold enough.’ The predicted snow at the end of the week combined with strong winds could mean reduced visibility for drivers.

The Met Office said: ‘An active cold front is expected to push south-east across the UK during Wednesday introducing an increasingly cold and unstable air mass.

‘Showers will become frequent and heavy, increasingly falling as snow in the North and West, and driven well inland by strong to gale force northwesterly winds. Accumulating snow is likely, especially overnight.’

The drop will be a sharp contrast to the mild temperatures of around 10C (50F) – the same as those predicted for Madrid – at the beginning of this week.

On Wednesday night many will begin to feel the cold again with temperatures falling to -2C in the North and -1C in the South.

In the North, sleet and snow are expected to cover the ground overnight with wintry showers and winds blasting the South.

Despite the cold snap, nature experts say spring is already well on the way. Sightings of snowdrops, hazel catkins and even ladybirds and butterflies have been submitted to the Woodland Trust’s Nature’s Calendar scheme, which asks the public to report natural events which mark the changing seasons. So far in 2015, there have been reports of snowdrops at 120 locations across the country and hazel catkins in 74 areas.

In November, the Trust received a record of frogspawn on the Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall, the earliest such incidence for nine years.

Research looking at nature records stretching back to the 18th century has found flowers over the last 25 years blooming up to 12 days earlier than previously.

This year’s sightings come after the warmest year on record for the UK. The current freezing conditions may halt the march of spring, but conservationists say that causes less of a problem than a late cold snap, as happened in 2013, when more species are likely to be awake from hibernation or already flowering.

Sightings of butterflies