Get fready for freezing Friday, with windchill taking it down to -8C

Thursday 17 January 2013

Snow flurries are expected tonight while the windchill factor pushes temperatures well below freezing, forecasters have warned.

Blizzards with the potential to bring 15-20cm of snow are forecast for parts of England and Wales, and Scotland can expect a light dusting before the wintry weather front pushes up from the south tomorrow.

Overnight it will be cloudy in south-west and north-east Scotland with light showers or flurries of snow. Due to recent dry weather the snow is expected to lie but will only amount to a few centimetres.But predicted temperatures of -3C will feel as cold as -8C due to strong winds forecast across the country which will bring the risk of ice and dangerous driving conditions tomorrow morning.Laura Caldwell, a forecaster for MeteoGroup, said: "Tonight the south-west will be clouding over with some light snow. It's going to be quite dry so it will lie but it won't build up."There will also be flurries in the north-east but that won't be widespread. It will lie and it will be noticeable but it won't be thick."It's going to be quite windy tonight with low temperatures across the country. It will drop down certainly below freezing to -3C or -4C but it will feel much colder than that with strong winds bringing a windchill factor to make it feel as low as -8C and that will be everywhere, even places without snow."A Transport Scotland spokesman said: "While the Met Office is predicting that Scotland is expected to escape the most severe weather heading for other parts of the UK tomorrow and into the weekend, we would ask the public to remain vigilant and take on board police advice about driving to the conditions."Our Multi-Agency Response Team (MART) is on stand-by to be fully operational. We held a MART partners conference call again today to discuss the next couple of days and another is planned for tomorrow."The position is one of remaining vigilant, and keeping close to travel updates via Traffic Scotland and local radio. Beyond that, if travelling south, the public should be aware of likely winter weather disruption and plan accordingly."Local authorities and operating companies have more salt in stock or on order than ever before, additional gritters and specialist equipment are available, and new weather stations and cameras are helping to improve decision-making and deliver better informed communications."Motorists should heed police advice and drive to the conditions."The train operator East Coast has already made provisions for the bad weather predicted for tomorrow, urging passengers to check forecasts as well as its website at www.eastcoast.co.uk, or Twitter account @eastcoastuk, before they travel.East Coast is also encouraging customers to travel before 6pm when heavier snowfall is expected across the UK.An East Coast spokesman said: "We are constantly monitoring predicted weather conditions along our route, and the latest information we have is that heavier snowfalls are expected between Peterborough and the North East tomorrow afternoon and evening."Our people are working hard to prepare our trains and stations as well as we can. Additional engineering teams will be based at key points on our route to keep trains moving, while Network Rail have snowploughs ready to keep tracks clear."Our advice to customers is please check for the latest information before setting out, and allow extra time to reach stations as road conditions are expected to deteriorate through the day."

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

Get fready for freezing Friday, with windchill taking it down to -8C

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED