Heavy snow forecast across UK cities including Newcastle with up to 19cm per hour expected
by Kathryn Riddell, Zahra Khaliq · ChronicleLiveSeveral cities including Newcastle are bracing for a snow onslaught that's set to last around 48 hours, according to new weather maps.
One region could see as much as 19cm of snowfall per hour, putting all its major towns and cities at risk.
This follows the Met Office issuing yellow weather warnings for snow and ice across large parts of the country, with freezing temperatures continuing to grip several areas. The latest data from WXCharts shows the UK being hit by snow for approximately 48 hours on December 11.
The maps indicate that snow will first strike much of Scotland around midday, with about 8cm expected to fall near Inverness within an hour, before spreading towards Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. Then, around 13cm per hour is predicted to hit northern Scotland.
However, it won't be long before the snow travels south, with major cities including Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Cardiff, as well as Belfast in Northern Ireland, expected to turn white. This is anticipated to occur by midnight on December 12, during which point Scotland's snowfall will intensify even further, with up to 19cm per hour on the west coast and all major towns and cities affected.
Snow is forecasted to continue falling over large parts of the country throughout December 12 until it eases around midday on December 13, leaving behind a freezing -7C cold snap in central Scotland in the early hours of December 14, reports the Mirror.
The Met Office's long-range weather forecast for December 12-26 suggests that the weather will become less settled again towards the middle of the month, with west or northwesterly types preferred. This could bring wet and windy weather "with a risk of some snow, especially across northern hills", and these conditions are likely to persist until late December.
The BBC's long-range weather forecast for December 9-22 also predicts a continued dip in temperatures. It states: "There could be occasions when a colder north-westerly flow develops, consistent with the centre of low pressure moving towards the eastern North Atlantic.
"As a result, temperatures could be a little lower at times, especially in Northern Ireland and Scotland with a possibility of occasional wintry precipitation, even at lower levels."
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