UK Weather: 'This Winter Could Be One of The Coldest in 30 Years

Ice will create hazardous driving conditions in Northern Ireland (Image: Getty Images Europe)

Forecasters say the UK is set for its first cold spell of the season as towns in Yorkshire and the Midlands remain underwater amid severe flooding that has killed at least one person.

The Mirror reports: “After parts of Wales, Scotland and England were left looking like a winter wonderland on Saturday, the Met Office said the weather will remain cold and unsettled and the main risk of snow will likely be late Sunday night into Monday morning.

“But further spells are expected through the week as much of the country sees overnight temperatures near or below freezing on some very cold nights.

“Sleet, rain, frost, fog and strong winds will also pose problems for commuters next week.”

Any snow on Sunday night and/or Monday morning will likely be confined to high ground in Scotland and temperatures were expected to drop to -7C Sunday morning.

“Weather experts are warning this winter could be one of the coldest in 30 years and Britain could see a repeat of the deadly Beast from the East.

“It wasn’t that long ago that the brutal cold snap killed almost 20 people as the UK was plunged into a -15C freeze with heavy snow and ice that grounded flights, shut schools and caused havoc for commuters,” the report said.

Many places in Wales had their first snowfall of the season on Saturday (Image: Steffan_W_1991/ Twitter)

“Climate experts University College London have warned that a freezing vortex of Arctic air could sweep across the country in a few months.

“They said this winter could be one of the coldest in decades after analysing current sea temperatures and the jet stream over the North Atlantic.”

Led by Professor Mark Saunders, the team told the Sunday Times: “This would rank the 2020 January-February central England temperature as the coldest winter since 2013.

“It would also rank January-February 2020 as the seventh coldest winter in the past 30 years.

“There is a 57 percent chance the central England temperature will be colder than in 2018, thus making it the coldest January-February since 2013.”