Tonight could be coldest January night for 14 years – with ‘bitterly cold’ days to come | UK News

Tonight could be the coldest January night in 14 years, with -15C possible in some parts of Scotland.

Sky News weather presenter Joanna Robinson said if this temperature is reached, it would be the lowest on a January night since 2010.

It would also be the lowest temperature for winter 2023/24 so far.

The freezing temperatures and snow are expected to continue for much of Britain this week because of cold Arctic air.

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A snowplough on the A66 near Keswick in Cumbria. Much of Britain is facing another day of cold temperatures and travel disruption after overnight lows dropped below freezing for the bulk of the country. A "cold plunge of Arctic air" has moved south across the whole country over the past few days, making it 5C-6C lower than usual for this time of year, the Met Office said. Picture date: Tuesday January 16, 2024. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire
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A snowplough on the A66 near Keswick in Cumbria

And this is expected to be replaced by “potentially disruptive” stormy weather which lands over the weekend.

A “cold plunge of Arctic air” has moved south across the whole country over the past few days, making it 5C to 6C lower than usual for this time of year, the Met Office said.

A Met Office spokeswoman said: “It’s staying cold until Friday, and then looking further ahead into the weekend we’ve got some deep areas of low pressure pushing in, so a big change in weather type, and we could see some stormy conditions by the end of the week.

“The cold isn’t lasting right to the end of the week, but we have a very different type of potentially-disruptive weather arriving.”

More than 100 schools were closed in Scotland on Tuesday, while drivers faced difficult conditions thanks to the wintry weather across north-west England, including in Merseyside, Cheshire and Cumbria.

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There are three yellow weather warnings in place for Wednesday.

One for snow and ice covers northern England and parts of Wales and comes into place from midnight for 24 hours.

Another ice warning covering parts of Scotland around Glasgow and Edinburgh also comes into force from midnight for 24 hours.

The third snow and ice warning covers the northern section of Scotland and Northern Ireland and is in place until 11.59pm on Wednesday.

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More than 40cm of snow could be seen on high ground in northwest Scotland by the end of Friday as it continues to build up over the coming days, the Met Office added.

Meanwhile, lower ground in northwest Scotland could see between five and 10cm of snow by the end of the working week.

The Met Office is reviewing the situation and any new warnings could be issued at short notice, it said.

The UK Health Security Agency has issued a cold-health alert, which warns of possible impacts for the health and social care sector.

National Rail has warned the wintry weather could affect train journeys all week.