UK weather: ‘Scandinavian high’ warning as snow hits parts of UK and temperatures fall to as low as -6C

Snow has hit parts of the country – with the spell of cold weather set to continue as an area of high pressure over Scandinavia brings freezing winds to the UK.

Temperatures dipped as low as -6C on Sunday night, with snowfall seen across Northumberland and County Durham.

Chilly and wet conditions will linger over most of Britain during the coming week, the Met Office said.

Temperatures may be slightly warmer with highs of 6C – but forecasters said it will feel close to freezing in the easterly winds.

Rain, drizzle and some sleet will continue to fall today and tomorrow, while snow is forecast in hilly areas.

Get the weather forecast where you are

Slightly drier weather is expected by the middle of this week, but temperatures will still be around two degrees lower than the February average.

Weather fronts will push in from the southwest later in the week, bringing a risk of patchy rain, but that is likely to be contained to western parts of Cornwall and Ireland.

The Met Office said the bitterly cold weather is due to a “Scandinavian high”.

“[It] is continuing to feed in this easterly wind across the UK. Because that is coming in from the North Sea, it’s filtering in a lot of moisture and we are seeing a lot of cloud kick off this new week,” Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey said.

“It will also be bringing some outbreaks of rain and drizzle, [which] will be falling as snow over hills… the Pennines today could see several centimetres building up.

“Parts of the west, particularly northwestern Scotland, will see some sunshine around and it will be more of a pleasant day here.

“But temperatures for most of us are going to be struggling around 5C to 6C – once we add to the strength of that easterly wind, it’s going to feel even colder than that – closer to freezing for the vast majority of us,” he said.

‘Grey, dull, gloomy’

“It really will be quite bitter out there, particularly in the exposed eastern coastal districts,” Mr Vautrey said.

“This is going to continue into [Monday] night. Those showers and outbreaks of rain [will continue] to spread their way in from the North Sea.

“Temperatures could drop off a touch more and there will be some patchy frost around during the night and into the start of Tuesday. Maybe still some localised icy stretches where surfaces are left untreated.

“We could potentially see longer spells of rain moving into southeastern England on Tuesday. It’s going to be another grey, dull, gloomy, day. A lot of clouds on the scene.

“Temperatures still rather struggling… 5C or 6C. The winds should ease off a little bit for parts of Wales, and central and southern England but it really is still going to have quite a keen breeze across Scotland into parts of northern England and Northern Ireland as well – so another very cold day to come.”

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A yellow cold health alert has been issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) for the southeast of England and parts of northern England and remains in place until 9am on Tuesday.

Around 1,500 without power after Eowyn

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 people remain cut off from electricity more than two weeks after Storm Eowyn’s record-breaking winds hit Ireland.

Power has been restored to 766,500 homes, farms, schools and businesses but some 1,500 remain without supply.

Amid the reconnection efforts, scam text messages are purporting to come from ESB Networks.

The National Cyber Security Centre warned members of the public to exercise caution when receiving messages from unknown numbers, and said government departments, agencies and banks will never text asking unexpectedly for bank details.

Uisce Eireann said it is also working to return service to the “final few” customers without water.

Elsewhere, emergency response hubs are assisting people with basic needs such as water, hot food, phone charging, broadband access and shower facilities.

The hubs are also operating study rooms for exam-year students.