Overview
- Met Office guidance for January 1–10 points to a dominant cold northerly flow bringing wintry showers and occasional bands of rain, sleet and snow pushing south.
- UKHSA has amber cold-health alerts for North East and North West England until noon on January 5 and yellow alerts elsewhere, citing likely strain on health and care services.
- BBC and local forecasts highlight sleet or light snow in some areas in early January, while many inland central and southern locations are expected to stay mostly dry but cold.
- Private model maps using ECMWF/GFS data show possibilities ranging from localized snow to widespread heavy accumulations, a range forecasters say carries low confidence on amounts and placement.
- Temperatures are set to stay below average with widespread frost and some freezing fog, and some model runs take parts of Scotland well below freezing before a possible slight moderation later in the period.