The Met Office has released seven weather warnings for the UK this week – covering dozens of areas the latest weather maps suggest could see sustained, heavy snowfall
New snow maps have turned several shades of purple while capturing dramatic blizzard conditions descending over the UK this week, with showers cornering the country and 47 areas now on alert.
The Met Office issued additional alerts and warnings for the country as the first flurries of autumn 2025 descended over hundreds of miles, with 7cm of settled snow reported in Lake Vyrnwy in Powys, Wales this morning. Up to 25cm of snow could fall by the end of this week, the agency has said, with the cold extending tendrils as far south as London.
The latest maps show what is to come for the country in the coming hours, with Thursday set to be one of the snowiest days most Brits will have seen all year.
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Maps from WXCharts show purple blotches – representing snowy showers – forming around much of the coast from Wednesday night, with the most intense snowfall off the northeast and southwest coasts. Around Wales and Plymouth, showers could tip out up to 15mm per hour of snow, with much more north of the border.
The east coast from Aberdeen to Newcastle looks set to receive up to 80mm of snow per hour, although much of this seems likely to fall out at sea. Smaller showers dot other areas around the coast, working their way down the UK from Scotland’s northernmost tip at Thurso to the tip of Plymouth.
This means that, in total, snow looks likely to fall over 748 miles, only dissipating by early on Friday morning at around 9am off the southeast coast. The Met Office has reflected this in its latest weather warnings, which are in place for 47 areas until late on Thursday night, including a rare amber alert for snow.
The alert, the most severe of the seven in place this week, states that “frequent wintry showers” in and around Yorkshire could cause widespread disruption and even cut off communities between 3am and 9pm tomorrow. People living in Redcar and Cleveland, East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire have been warned that “gusty winds” and “lightning strikes” will accompany the freezing weather.
It states: “Frequent wintry showers will feed inland from the North Sea, giving significant snow accumulations over the North York Moors and parts of the Yorkshire Wolds. By the end of Thursday, as much as 15-25cm may have accumulated on hills above 100m elevation, which is likely to cause substantial disruption. Gusty winds, giving occasional blizzard conditions, and perhaps a few lightning strikes, may accompany some of the showers, posing as additional hazards.”
The Met Office forecast for the UK on Thursday reads: “A sunny day for most, but further sleet and snow showers for coastal stretches. Heavy across northeast England in particular. Cold for all, with a widespread frost reforming overnight.”
Looking ahead to Friday and the weekend, the forecaster predicts: “Rain and cloud spreading in from the west Friday and Saturday. Turning less cold over the weekend with further outbreaks of rain likely on Sunday, some brighter spells too.”
