This interactive map will let you see when a brutal cold snap could be at your door.
The ‘Beast from the East’ is forecast to sweep through the UK from next Wednesday – and now you can use this interactive Ventusky map to find out exactly when to expect fearsome winds and potential snow affecting you.
Using these simple steps, you can see when the cold snap is set to send you scurrying for a hot water bottle.
This interactive map will let you see when a brutal cold snap is set to arrive at your home. First, click on Temperature
Pick the variable you would like the interactive map to show you, such as snow cover. You can change the model of predictions in the bottom left corner
You can change the time on the slider at the bottom, which is evening spread over the hours
You can move the map by clicking and dragging on it with your cursor on the screen
Firstly, make sure the date at the bottom of the screen is correct. Then, click on Temperature to select which variable you want to see, such as chance of rain or snow cover.
If you click on Model at the bottom left, you will be able to see different predictions.
By clicking the forward and backward arrows you can change the time of day you are looking at, and you will be able to move the map by clicking and dragging your cursor across the screen.
This interactive map will be especially handy in the coming days since blizzards could hit the UK next week as forecasters warn of a weather event in the coming days which has sparked fears of an Arctic blast.
A Sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event is due to take place, with the first signs becoming evident this week, the Met Office said.
Climes could drop down to -8.5C on Sunday night in Tulloch Bridge, Scotland, while in England temperatures could hit their lowest point at Benson, Oxfordshire, at -6C, The Mirror reports.
Meteorologist Alex Deakin said: ‘This cold air coming in through the weekend is likely to last for most of next week. By the time we get to the following weekend, things turned a little bit milder.
‘But as you can imagine, by this stage, there is a lot of what we call spread. There’s still a lot of variation. but that’s a pretty strong signal that next week is likely to stay cold for much of the week.
A map showing the probability of snow (in purple) falling in the UK on Thursday, March 9
This teeters away by next Friday, with the highest chance of snowfall being in the Highlands
‘The big question mark is, as I say, whether we see any significant snowfall, whether we get any injection of moisture to combine with that snowfall. So here’s what we do know about next week.’
The Met Office has is issued a cold weather alert, warning of wintry showers and freezing temperatures across England.
Very cold air will spread across the UK from Monday – bringing snow and a risk of ice, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.
Dr Agostinho Sousa, head of extreme events and health protection at UKHSA, said: ‘During periods like this, it is important to check in on family, friends and relatives who may be more vulnerable to the cold weather, as it can have a serious impact on health.
‘If you have a pre-existing medical condition or are over the age of 65, it is important to try and heat your home to at least 18C if you can.’
Chris Almond, deputy chief meteorologist at the Met Office, said: ‘Although we’ve moved into meteorological spring there will be a distinctly wintry feel to our weather next week. Very cold air will spread across the UK bringing snow showers even to sea level in the north on Monday and these snow showers could spread further south on Tuesday.
‘With freezing overnight temperatures and the risk of ice, it is likely weather warnings will be issued for Monday and Tuesday once the detail of potential impacts becomes clearer, so keep an eye on the Met Office forecast.’
It comes as the Northern Lights were spotted in the sky last night – and the Met said they are likely to be visible again tonight.
Stunning images taken across the country showed a purple and pink sky around sunset.
And bookies slashed the odds on March being the coldest on record.
Pictured on Sunday evening is the northern lights at Crosby Beach on the Merseyside coastline, north of Liverpool
Alex Apati from Ladbrokes told the Mirror: ‘The incoming Beast from the East has forced us to slash odds on next month playing host to the coldest March on record.’
The mercury was forecast to fall as low as -8C in Scotland overnight as temperatures drop to below average entering March.
Northern and eastern coasts are expected to see the bulk of wintry conditions at the end of this week, before snow and rain is expected to move to the west.
Today is starting off on a frosty note, especially across Scotland and parts of southern England, the Met Office said.
‘It will be dry for many but a few showers will move into eastern England, the Midlands and Wales at times,’ the forecaster added.
The Met Office forecast for today says it will be cloudy with scattered light showers and a few brighter breaks. Western, and especially northwestern, areas will be sunniest.
The cloudy conditions will stay tomorrow with scattered showers in eastern and central areas. Frost will hit north west Scotland.
Wednesday to Friday looks settled but still cloudy, the forecast says, and showers continue in the northern and eastern coastal areas. It will be cold with light winds.
The Met Office forecast today – cold and windy conditions spread across Britain
A coronal hole high speed stream arrived in Britain on Sunday night, combined with a rather fast coronal mass ejection, leading to the Aurora sightings across the UK.
‘The Aurora Borealis may be visible as far south as central England tonight where skies remain clear,’ the Met Office tweeted. ‘The Northern Lights are also likely to be seen again on Monday night.’
The Met Office tweeted a series of pictures taken by members of the public which captured the light phenomenon in North Uist in Scotland, North Wales, Cambridgeshire and Shropshire.
It encouraged users to upload pictures of any other sightings using the hashtag #LoveUKWeather.
Royal Museums Greenwich explains on its website that the lights are caused by solar storms on the surface of the sun giving out clouds of electrically charged particles which can travel millions of miles and collide with the Earth.
Most particles are deflected away but some are captured in the Earth’s magnetic field and accelerate down towards the north and south poles, colliding with atoms and molecules in the Earth’s atmosphere, according to the observatory.
The lights are the product of this collision between atoms and molecules from the Earth’s atmosphere and particles from the sun.
In November last year, strong light displays were witnessed across Scotland.
A Met Office spokesperson said the rare sightings of the aurora borealis further south in the UK on Sunday night were due to the ‘strength’ of a geomagnetic storm and the ‘strip of cloudless skies’ in southern regions
