April Snow Showers!!!

Heavy snow is falling across the UK as early signs of spring are replaced by winter weather. Overnight snow started falling in the North East, Manchester and north Wales and headed down towards the Midlands in the early hours. Snowfall was later reported in Birmingham and Loughborough and by 6am it was snowing heavily in London. North Wales was experiencing a second wave of snowfall. Forecasters said the snow was settling in places but it is not expected to cause problems on the transport network (lets see if they change their mind tomorrow morning!).

The Met Office has issued a number of flash warnings of severe or extreme weather. It warns there is at least an 80% chance of heavy snow and widespread icy roads across Northern Ireland, north Wales and northwest England as well as a strong possibility of heavy snow in the West Midlands, southwest England and London and the South East.

Temperatures dropped significantly this weekend after an unseasonably warm week that saw the hottest day of the year on Thursday. The wintry weather moved southwards last night, becoming more widespread through England and Wales and bringing temperatures of between 0C and -3C (I know I went out last night!). Today is expected to be another cold and wintry day.

April is known for its changeable weather, and it seems that this year is no exception. Two weeks after a white Easter, the weather became significantly more spring-like last week with temperatures soaring to 18C in a number of places across the UK. Thursday was the warmest day so far this year in Inverbervie, Aberdeenshire, which hit 18.9C.

The Met Office warned last week that this summer is likely to be hotter and wetter than usual. It is predicting a return to the traditional British summer of "three fine days and then a thunderstorm". But forecasters refused to rule out a repeat of last year's torrential rain, which caused widespread flooding. Nor would they rule out an extremely dry summer.

Do you think they are just hedging their bets???