UK faces 400-mile snow storm with 'half' of England 'completely covered'

The UK faces a 400-mile snow storm with the "whole" of the west of the country "completely covered". Half of England - the west half - will be hammered, as well as Wales and Northern Ireland, as maps and charts from WX Charts show a huge band of the white stuff sweeping over Britain on December 14.

The projections come from WX Charts, using Met Desk data, as we head into the final month of the year and towards Christmas. James Madden, from Exacta Weather, said: "Temperatures dropped to a very cold -7 to -8C in the coldest spots of the country overnight as the expected cold and wintry theme for this week begins to gain more of a stronghold across large parts of the UK and Ireland.

"Initially, many parts of the country will begin on a cold and wet note as an area of low pressure influences some heavy rain showers alongside those colder temperatures throughout today. However, as we progress into early evening tonight (Monday), some of this wet weather will begin to turn to snow at times across parts of northern England and Northern Ireland to begin with.

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"And despite it being quite definitive for snow across higher ground in these parts later today, there is also no reason why some of this precipitation won’t also turn wintry or to temporary heavy snow showers at some much lower levels at times as the combination of colder conditions and unsettled weather becomes optimum for a decent risk of snow."

The BBC Weather team said: "Behind a deepening low pressure system, temperatures should initially drop below average. Atlantic weather systems will then bring milder air for much of this forecast period but colder and drier interludes are still possible."

"The next outlook on Friday should provide a clearer picture for the next week and a slightly more confident trend for later. Since there will probably be greater fluctuations in temperature, further wintry spells are to be expected later in December," the Beeb added.