UK weather maps turn purple as enormous 771-mile wall of snow wallops Britain | Weather | News
Britain will face a massive snowpack in the early hours of Monday, January 12, according to new weather maps. Charts created by WXCharts predict a long wall of snow stretching from the northernmost tip of Scotland to the south coast of England and across the Channel to France.
The “purple zone”, which refers to heavy snowfall, covers a large area of the country. According to the charts, the frost attack begins to intensify at midnight (00:00 UTC), with the heaviest snowfall hitting the spine of the UK. Cities in the direct path of the purple wall include Glasgow, Dundee, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent, Birmingham and parts of West London. At 3am maps showed the band of heavy snow had drifted slightly eastwards and continued to form significant accumulations across the Pennines, Midlands and East Anglia.
The size of the weather front is staggering; It appears to extend approximately 771 miles from the Scottish Highlands to the heart of England.
Meteorologists use the color purple on these maps to represent the intensity of snowfall, which often exceeds 3-5 cm per hour in the hardest-hit areas.
This suggests commuters could face a chaotic situation on Monday morning as the “snow wall” threatens to bring road and rail networks to a halt or cause slippery conditions for commuters. Residents are asked to closely monitor local forecasts and be prepared for possible travel disruptions as the purple wall approaches.
While much of the UK is highlighted in purple to indicate snow, western cities including Belfast, Swansea, Bristol and Plymouth appear to be seeing rain as milder Atlantic air clashes with freezing arctic air over the British Isles.
The Met Office’s weather forecast for Sunday, January 11 – Tuesday, January 20 is as follows: “A change in weather patterns is likely at the start of this period. Milder weather is expected to arrive from the west as a rain band arrives on Sunday. Depending on how quickly the band moves eastwards, this could lead to another round of snowfall in northern and eastern areas.”
“Although unsettled, the transition to milder conditions is likely to extend into the following week and is likely to continue for the remainder of the period. All regions will experience occasional showers or longer spells of rain, but will still have some drier breaks. It is also potentially windy at times. While this transition is likely to occur, very cold temperatures are expected to remain near the east of the UK and are unlikely to return.”
