Market News

Jamie Brassington

The UK faces a TWO INCH PER HOUR snow storm which will hit "all" of the country according to new weather maps. A mix of heavy rain and snowfall look set to pummel the country in late March and into April.

Advanced modelling from WX Charts, which uses Met Desk data, shows snow in Northern Ireland and western parts of Scotland, England and Wales at around midday on March 26.

By 6pm, snow could be falling at 5cm per hour - with England worst-hit in the north, alongside swathes of Scotland and Northern Ireland too. A Met Office forecast spanning the end of the month has been published - hinting at what lies ahead.

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It states: "High pressure is expected to be centred to the east of the UK initially, with a good deal of fine, dry and reasonably sunny weather in a south to southeasterly flow. Temperatures are expected to rise, to well above average in some areas."

The outlook, lasting March 19 to March 28, adds: "Later in the week there will likely be a gradual transition to less settled conditions from west to east, as low pressure becomes more dominant with an increasing chance of rain or showers by the weekend and into the final week of March, perhaps heavy in places.

"Temperatures, initially above average, will likely trend back closer to normal, although with more cloud this will tend to reduce the risk of frost to an extent."

The forecasting agency has also issued a late March forecast which takes into account the first two weeks of April, too. In it, the forecasters predict: "Confidence is naturally rather low, but blocked patterns are generally more favoured for the end of March and first part of April."

They go on to state: "This can lead to slow-moving areas of low and high pressure, and depending on their location can result in extended periods of either dry conditions or, perhaps more likely, wetter episodes in the form of rain or showers.

"Either way, whilst temperatures overall may be near average, given the time of year this type of regime tends to increase the chance of periods of below average temperatures at times."