Weather will be blowing hot and cold

Jan 2 2008 by Rin Simpson, Western Mail

THE extremes of weather which characterised 2007 will continue in the first days of the new year, forecasters predicted yesterday.

Some areas of Wales will see average daily temperatures rise by as much as 15C in the space of three days later this week as the weather alternates between an icy cold snap and an unseasonably mild spell.

The first real cold snap of the year is expected to kick in this afternoon as temperatures begin to drop across Wales.

By the afternoon, mid and east Wales will have reached freezing point, while overnight the north of the country will be the only part to escape minus temperatures.

Thursday afternoon will be the coldest, with temperatures as low as -3C in Aberystwyth and light snow expected for the east of the country around Welshpool in the morning.

However, by Friday the temperature will already start to improve and by Saturday it will be positively mild – between 9C and 11C across the country.

Across the UK the picture is fairly similar, though snowfalls are likely to be heavier. Birmingham will see the first effects of the cold with sleet forecast for Wednesday night, while much of southern England and the Midlands will join eastern Wales for light snow during Thursday.

By the afternoon the whole of the east side of the UK – from Aberdeen to London – will be experiencing snow flurries, which will intensify and move north through Friday, leaving the area from Yorkshire up to Inverness heavy with snow.

By Saturday, however, the whole of the UK will be wet with heavy rain predicted across the country in the morning, clearing in the north by the afternoon.

A spokesman for the Met Office said, “This is probably the first occasion this winter when we’re likely to get widespread, if fairly light, snow over the south of the UK.

“There have been snowfalls over Scotland and northern England but this is the first occasion that we’re likely to see any falls over the south.

“It’s going to be a fairly brief cold snap – even during Friday it’s getting warmer and by Saturday if anything it’s going to be two to three degrees above average for some places.”

Although the weather will be changeable, it is not that unusual for this time of year.

He added, “Most colder snaps tend to last longer but in this case we’ve got a cold south easterly being pushed into the UK off the continent by a high pressure in north-west Russia and Scandinavia.

“In this particular case it happens that one air mass is being displaced after a fairly brief time over us.”

The cold and the wet may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but at least we’re in for a better start to the year than we were at the beginning of 2007.

Neither cold nor rain disturbed New Year revellers on Monday, in contrast to the previous year when party goers had to face high winds and rain.

At that time severe weather warnings were issued across the country, with “very disturbed” weather forecast. By January 11, 80mph winds were bringing down power lines and heavy rains caused floods, and a week later the country was hit by another round of storms.

We’re likely to get widespread, if fairly light, snow over the south