Cold wintry conditions will continue into the weekend, before milder and wetter weather sweeps in bringing at least a temporary reprieve.
A number of National Severe Weather warnings for snow, ice and wind are either in place or will be issued over the coming days.
The UK will remain cold through rest of this week and into the weekend with the risk of sleet and snow at times continuing mainly across northern areas.
Met Office chief forecaster, Frank Saunders, said: “A band of sleet and snow will affect western Scotland tomorrow (Friday 16/12) and there is a small chance we could see a few centimetres of snow falling quite quickly to low levels through the Central Belt during the morning rush hour before mostly turning to rain.
“A weather warning is in place.
“The UK will remain in a northerly airflow until the weekend but then the cold conditions, which have dominated our weather patterns will start to lose ground to a push of mild air from the southwest – but not without problems in the transition period.
“As the mild air meets the cold air currently in situ over the UK there will be a transient spell of snow, even to low levels, especially in the north.
“Add to this the risk of rain falling onto frozen surfaces, and strong winds over upland areas of northern Britain (bringing blizzard conditions briefly), and this could be a day to avoid travelling in some areas, although the snow should turn to rain later.”
Sunday will see the start of a marked change in weather type.
It will remain unsettled into next week, perhaps with a trend down in temperatures once again, although not as cold as we are currently experiencing.
We could potentially see a return of some wintery hazards but with a lot of uncertainty in how prolonged this might be and what associated hazards it might bring. Strong winds could prove disruptive at times in the first half of the week.
A Level 3 Cold Weather Alert has been issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) covering all of England and is currently in place until 12 noon on Sunday 18 December.
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