Warning over cold snap as month draws to a close

WALES looks set for plunging temperatures by the end of the month.

There have been lots of reports in recent weeks about the UK being blasted by another Beast from the East after sudden stratospheric warming in the Arctic over Christmas.

The Met Office is now saying temperatures are expected to plunge as we move towards the end of January, but forecasters still cannot say if the country will be hit by a whiteout.

Temperatures are expected to drop and conditions to become more “wintry” by the end of January.

Cardiff-born weather presenter Liam Dutton said long-range models were “hinting” there was “greater potential for notably cold weather” for the last week of January and first week of February.

He also warned there were “big uncertainties” about the detail of how cold it will be and if there will be snow.

Welsh weather forecaster Derek Brockway said: “It looks like thermals will come in handy later in the month into February.

“Significant cold spell most likely end of Jan early Feb with threat of snow but uncertainty in how long it will last and how cold it will get.”

A Met Office spokesman said: “Next week there will be colder spells and there could be a little bit of wintriness in the north, but nothing too exceptional for this time of year.

“As we head towards the later part of January it will turn colder but there’s still a lot of uncertainty in that forecast about where any snow will fall. The week beginning Monday, January 21, there is a stronger signal of it getting colder, that would increase the risk of snow.”