Sunday, 19 Jan 2025

'Baltic Beast' to batter UK this weekend with heavy snow and rain

The UK is set to be battered by bitter winds from the Baltic this weekend, plunging temperatures below freezing and bringing ‘dangerous’ blizzards.

Yorkshire and the North East are expected to bear the brunt of it on Friday, with heavy rainfall giving way to ice and snow, before cold snap makes its way south, first reaching London and then hitting the south coast by Sunday.

It will be the capital’s second spell of snowfall in the space of two weeks.

The cold front, which has been dubbed the ‘Beast from the Baltic’, has sparked concern that the vaccine rollout could be delayed in those areas worst hit, particularly in Scotland where the heaviest snow is expected to fall.

In the Highlands, 20 vehicles were trapped in snow on the A835 between Ullapool and Garve, with photos showing cars almost completely covered.

Local officials said a rescue operation was underway and warned motorists: ‘Do not travel in this area.’

The wintry conditions are due to cold winds blowing in from Scandanavia and the Baltic.



Weather warnings are in place over the next few days, with a warning for snow and ice covering the length of Britain from midday on Saturday to midnight on Sunday.

By next week, temperatures will be struggling to get much above 0C in quite a few places, with some areas such as the Pennines and high parts of Scotland seeing several degrees below that.

Birmingham faces lows of minus 2C by Tuesday morning, while a strong easterly wind will make it feel many degrees below freezing in some parts, according to Met Office forecaster Steven Keates.

He said it will be ‘really unpleasant’ to be outdoors, adding: ‘If you do have to go outside there are lots of layers required I think.’



Mr Keates said the south will see a ‘marked’ drop in temperatures across Saturday and Sunday, with some parts possibly seeing as much as 5-10cm of snow.

He added: ‘Enough snow is on the cards I think to cause potentially quite a bit of disruption in the south east of England through Sunday, and potentially very early next week as well.’

Meanwhile, the Environment Agency has almost 40 of its second-most-severe flood warnings in place, while it has issued more than 130 less-severe flood alerts.

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