Huge parts of the country have been covered in yellow weather warnings with Saturday’s rain replaced by heavy winds today, before conditions change again in time for Christmas
Millions of Brits are set for a Sunday washout as huge parts of the country are covered by weather warnings today.
The Met Office has issued yellow warnings for wind covering all of Scotland, Northern Ireland and great swathes of England. Massive 60mph winds are expected, especially in coastal areas as the weather takes a dive before Christmas.
However last night the rain turned to snow in some areas of northern Scotland. Today, dangerous conditions are feared to arrive. The Met Office said: “Strong and gusty northwesterly winds are expected to develop on Sunday. Gusts of 50-60 mph are expected quite widely, and around some exposed coasts and hills of gusts 70 mph are possible, especially in the north and west. In addition, squally showers are likely with some hail and thunder possible in places.
“This has the potential to cause delays to public transport and some disruption to the road network, which may have a greater than usual impact given the busier pre-Christmas weekend travel. Dangerous coastal conditions can be expected too, with large waves an additional hazard.”
Yesterday the country was hit by a number of showers which are expected to stay overnight into today. Met Office Chief Meteorologist Frank Saunders added: “The strong winds will be more widespread on Sunday, with gusts of 50-60 mph expected quite widely. Around some exposed coasts and hills, gusts of 60 to 70 mph are possible, especially in the north and west.
“In addition, squally showers are likely with some hail and thunder possible in places. A Yellow National Severe Weather Warning is in place, covering a large swathe of the UK.
“Frequent blustery showers will also be a feature on Saturday and may merge into a longer spell of rain for a time in the far north and northwest.
“Those showers could turn to snow on the hills in the northwest of Scotland on Saturday evening, and then overnight and into Sunday. This chance of wintry showers extends to Northern Ireland, southern Scotland and northern England.
“Snow will be focused over hills, where several cm may fall, but some sleet, snow and hail may fall to quite low levels for a time, bringing possible icy conditions by Sunday morning.”
Thankfully, the winds will ease for the start of next week and there will be some brightness in the east on Monday, before cloud and rain move in. People will start to see a change in feel to the weather though, with the rain accompanied by an increase in temperatures.
