Overview
- Yellow warnings cover midnight to noon on 2 January from Greater Manchester and Chester down to London and Kent, with separate alerts in place for Northern Ireland and northern Scotland.
- Forecasters expect 1–2cm of snow for many areas and up to 5cm on higher ground in north Wales and northwest England, with icy patches developing quickly after wintry bands pass.
- Northern Scotland faces frequent, sometimes heavy snow showers with blizzard-like conditions in places and larger accumulations through Friday.
- Travel disruption is likely on roads, buses and trains, and the public is advised to allow extra time, check updates and carry winter essentials to reduce risks from icy surfaces.
- Longer-range outlooks are less certain, with BBC Weather indicating the highest chance of London snow on 6 January and private WXCharts maps showing a possible deeper Arctic blast around 10 January that remains low confidence.